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THE 


SUNSET   LAND; 


THE  GREAT  PACIFIC  SLOPE. 


BY 


REV.  JOHN  TODD,  D.  D. 


1  0    J     »       J      > 


»       -»•>..>. 


BOSTON: 
LEE    AND     SHEPARD 

18/0. 


fS( 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  18G9,  by 

JOHN  TODD, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


ElECTROTYPED    AT    THE 

BOSTON     STEREOTYPE     FOUNDIiT, 

No.  19  Spring  Lane. 


To  JAMES  LAIDLEY,  Esq., 

SAN  FRANCISCO. 

My  dbae  Sir: 

When  you  met  me  on  the  steamboat, 
on  the  Sacramento  River,  an  entire  stranger,  as  I 
supposed,  and  when  you  claimed  acquaintance  from 
having  been  —  long,  long  ago  —  a  member  of  my 
Sabbath  School,  I  had  no  thought  that  you  were 
to  be  the  representative  of  the  kind  friends  I  was 
to  finrl  in  California.  But  yours  was  -a  true  speci- 
men of  their  kindnesses ;  and  I  have  no  way  of 
letting  you  and  them  know  how  deeply  I  remember 
all  tliey  did  to  render  my  visit  one  of  the  most 
delightful  periods  of  my  life,  then,  and  in  memory, 
except  thus  to  make  my  grateful  acknowledg- 
ments. 

THE  AUTHOR. 

PiTTSFiELD,  September,  1869. 


iVil8i7'i5 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    I. 

Page 
The    Climate,     Soil,    and    Natural    Productions, 

which  3iake  california  what  it  is.     .        .        .9 


CHAPTER    II. 
Mines,  Mining,  and   their  Effects  on  the  World.    38 

CHAPTER    III. 
Thb  Big  Trees  and  Yo-Semite  Valley.      .         .        .76 

CHAPTER    IV. 
Natural   Productions   op   California,  including   a 

Visit  to  the  Geysers 121 

CHAPTER    V. 
Mormons  and  Mormonism 161 

CHAPTER    VI. 
The  Highway  of  Nations,  or  the  Continental  Rail- 
roads  213 

CHAPTER    VII. 
The  Future   of  the  Pacific   Slope,  and  the  Chi- 
nese Question. 263 

Appendix. 315 


THE  SUNSET  LAND 


CHAPTEE    I. 

THE   CLIMATE,    SOIL,  AND   NATURAL   PRODUCTIONS 
WHICH   MAKE    CALIFORNIA   WHAT   IT   IS. 

California  is  a  study.  On  visiting  it,  the 
stranger  is,  at  first,  utterly  bewildered,  finding 
everything  so  entirely  difierent  from  anything 
he  expected  or  ever  saw  before.  He  seems 
to  have  alighted  on  some  new  planet;  the 
points  of  compass  seem  to  have  swung  wrong, 
and  the  winds,  the  trees,  the  shrubbery,  the 
hills,  and  valleys,  all  conspire  to  confound 
and  mock  him,  and  to  enjoy  his  confusion. 

It  is  on  account  of  what  I  deem  the  great 

FUTURE  before  California,  and   the  vast  prob- 
es) 


'IPiil  V 


^Bl^  :^\mSi!lT   LAND. 


lems  there  to  be  solved,  thai  I  desire  to  have 
my  reader  understand  what  Nature  has  done 
to  make  this  State  so  peculiar,  and  to  give 
her  a  position  of  so  much  importance.  How 
different  in  all  respects  from  our  New  Eng- 
land !  Here  the  winds  hurry,  and  scurry, 
and  change,  often  many  times  a  day;  there 
they  unchangingly  blow  in  one  direction  for 
six  months,  and  then  the  opposite  for  six 
months.  Here  the  earth  rests  in  winter ; 
there  they  have  no  winter,  and  her  rest  is  in 
the  summer.  Here  we  have  storm,  and  heat, 
and  cold ;  there  they  have  no  storms  or  rain 
in  summer,  and  only  rain  in  winter.  Here  our 
trees  shed  their  leaves  ;  there  they  wear  their 
varnished  covering  the  year  round,  while  some 
of  them,  like  the  bronzed  madrona,  shed  their 
bark  annually,  and  keep  on  their  bright,  green, 
waxen  leaves.  Here  the  woodpecker  goes  to 
the  old  tree  and  knocks  and  wakes  up  the 
worm,  and  then  pecks  in  and  gets  him ;  there 


CLIMATE.  11 

the  woodpecker  bores  a  thousand  holes  in  the 
great  pine  tree,  into  each  of  which  he  thrusts 
an  acorn,  into  which  the  miller  deposits  her 
egg,  and  which  the  woodpecker  calls  and 
takes,  after  it  has  become  a  good-sized  worm. 
The  blue  jay  is  arrayed  in  a  strange  dress, 
and  chatters  in  notes  equally  strange.  The 
lark  sings  in  sweeter  notes,  but  they  are  all 
new.  Here  the  owl  lives  in  the  hollow  tree ; 
there  he  burrows  in  the  ground  with  the 
strange  gray,  ground-squirrel,  or  in  the  hole  of 
the  rattlesnake,  or  in  that  of  the  prairie  dog. 
Here  the  elder  is  a  bush ;  there  I  have  seen 
it  a  tree  whose  trunk  is  a  foot  in  diameter. 
Here  the  lemon-verbena  is  a  flower-pot  plant ; 
there  it  is  a  bush  nine  feet  high.  Here  the 
mustard-seed  yields  a  small  plant ;  there  it  is  a 
tree,  often  seventeen  feet  high.  Here  we  have 
a  few  gi*ape-vines  in  a  grapery ;  there  you 
will  find  five  thousand  acres  in  a  single  vine- 
yard.     Here   you   will   see   a   single   oleander 


12  THE   SUNSET   LAND. 

beautifying  a  single  parlor ;  there  you  will 
fnid  a  hundred  clumps  in  full  blossom  in  a 
single  yard,  amid  what  looks  like  showers  of 
roses.  Here  Ave  make  the  Ethiopian  calla 
bloom  in  the  conservatory ;  there  it  blossoms 
in  every  graveyard,  and  at  the  head  of  almost 
every  grave.  Here  we  have  the  thick  green 
turf  on  our  soil ;  there  they  have  no  turf,  and 
not  a  dandelion,  daughter  of  the  turf,  grows 
in  all  California.  Here  the  sun  paints  the 
grass  green ;  there  he  turns  it  brown.  Here 
you  see  the  farmer  carefully  housing  his  hay, 
and  little  patch  of  wheat ;  there  he  cuts  no 
hay  except  to  supply  the  cities,  and  reaps 
and  threshes  his  wheat  in  the  fields,  and  throws 
the  bajrs  down  to  lie  all  summer,  sure  that 
neither  rain  nor  dew  will  hurt  it.  Here  you 
have  scores  of  trees  out  of  which  you  make 
3^our  tools ;  there  you  have  no  tree  out  of 
which  you  can  make  a  wagon-hub  or  spoke, 
a   plough,   a  harrow,   an    axe-helve,  or  a   hoe- 


CLIMATE.  13 

liandle.  Here  everything  is  small ;  there  the 
trees  and  all  the  vegetable  world  are  so  large, 
that  you  are  tempted  to  doubt  your  own  eyes. 
Now,  what  makes  the  climate  —  the  creator  of 
all  these  strange  things  —  so  peculiar?  Be  pa- 
tient a  few  minutes,  and  I  will  try  to  tell  you. 

California  is  a  little  over  eight  hundred 
miles  long  and  over  two  hundred  wide  —  a 
territory  out  of  which  you  could  carve  Mas- 
sachusetts twenty  times.  Full  two  thirds  of 
all  this  is  mountain.  For  our  purpose  at  the 
present  time,  we  mdy  say  the  State  lies  north 
and  south. 

As  you  go  from  the  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi west,  you  rise  till  you  cross  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  over  eight  thousand  feet  above  the 
ocean,  at  the  point  of  crossing.  This  is  the 
back-bone  of  the  continent.  You  then  come 
to  a  desert  of  some  four  hundred  miles. 
Then  you  meet  the  Wahsatch  Range  of  moun- 
tains,   parallel    with    the    Rocky    Mountains ; 


14  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

then  anotlier  vast  desert,  much  larger  than  the 
first,  and  then  the  Nevada  Mountams  —  the 
eastern  boundary  of  California.  This  is  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  running  the  whole  length  of 
the  State,  nowhere  less  than  four  thousand 
feet  high,  up  to  fifteen  thousand  feet,  with  a 
hundred  peaks,  each  of  which  is  over  thirteen 
thousand  feet.  For  two  hundred  miles  along 
its  northern  part,  there  is  no  spot  where  it 
could  be  passed  under  eleven  thousand  feet 
altitude.  The  width  of  this  range  is  eighty  or 
one  hundred  miles,  —  running  nearly  in  a 
straight  line,  —  and  the  whole  ridge  is  covered 
with  snow  over  eight  months  in  the  year. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  State,  holding  the 
old  Pacific  in  its  place,  is  the  Coast  Range 
of  mountains,  still  parallel  with  the  Sierra 
Nevada;  or,  rather,  several  ranges  of  these 
mountains,  parallel  with  one  another,  as  well 
as  the  Nevadas.  This  Coast  Range,  or  ocean- 
barrier,   is   from   say  twelve   hundred   to    ten 


CLIMAXE.  15 

thousand  feet  high,  and  about  forty  miles 
wide.  Between  these  two  great  ranges  of 
mountains  lies  a  great  valley,  made  by  two 
rivers,  the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin,  — 
the  first  running  south  and  the  other  north, 
—  meeting  and  emptying  in  a  bay  in  about 
the  middle  of  the  State,  and  forming  a  great 
valley,  —  though  usually  called  two,  —  about 
five  hundred  miles  long  and  fifty  miles  wide. 
This  great  basin  was  evidently  once  a  vast 
inland  sea,  which,  by  some  convulsion  of  na- 
ture, broke  through  the  Coast  Eange  of  moun- 
tains, in  the  centre  of  the  State,  by  wearing 
a  channel  into  the  ocean  about  a  mile  and  a 
third  wide.  This  outbreak  is  the  "Golden 
Gate."  Out  of  this  great  valley  there  were 
little  bays  and  coves  between  the  spurs  of 
the  Coast  Range.  These  are  now  beautiful 
little  valleys,  about  fifty  in  number,  and  from 
five  to  a  hundred  miles  long.  Among  the 
most  beautiful  of  these  —  and  upon  more  beau- 


16  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

tiful  the  sun  never  shone  —  are  the  Napa,  the 
Sanoma,  the  Russian,  and  the  SaMa  Chini 
valleys.  As  you  stand  on  the  mountahis,  and 
look  down  into  these  valleys,  they  look  like 
lakes  turned  into  land.  Now,  leave  the  land 
a   moment,  and  look   at  the  ocean. 

Near  the  equator,  in  the  Pacific  as  well  as  the 
Atlantic,  starts  a  stream  or  a  river  in  the  ocean. 
It  runs  along  up  the  coast  of  China  till  it  reaches 
Behr^g's  Straits.  Into  those  straits  it  rushes, 
meets^  and  melts  the  icebergs,  so  that  there 
are  no  icebergs  in  the  Pacific.  In  doing  this, 
it  gets  immensely  chilled,  and  turns  down 
towards  our  coast.  It  strikes  the  Aleutian 
Islands,  and  a  part  is  deflected  and  makes 
towards  the  Sandwich  Islands,  carrying  cool 
waters  to  make  temperate  what  would  other- 
wise be  uninhabitable.  A  part  of  this  now 
cold  river  comes  down  along  the  coast  of 
Oregon  and  California,  the  cold  w^ater,  of 
course,  down  on  the  bottom,  wherever  the 
water  is  blue. 


CLIMATE.  17 

As  the  waters  come  near  the  shores,  they 
become  shallow  and  green,  and  the  cold  wa- 
ters are  forced  up  to  the  surface ;  these  chill 
the  vapors  hanging  in  the  air,  condense  them, 
and  in  the  night  create  a  heavy  fog,  which 
hangs  along  the  whole  coast  of  California. 
Now,  why  does  not  this  sea-fog  roll  over  all 
the  land,  and  cover  it?  I  reply,  it  never 
rises  over  one  thousand  feet  high,  and  as  the 
Coast  Range  of  mountains  is  higher  than  'his, 
they  shut  it  out.  But  at  the  Golden  Gate, 
where  it  has  a  chance,  it  does  pour  in  every 
day,  and  envelop  the  city  of  San  Francisco 
from  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  till 
about  nine  in  the  morning.  There  is  another 
reason  why  the  fog  does  not  cover  the  land. 
The  great  vallisy,  of  which  I  have  spoken,  is 
the  great  laboratory  of  the  State.  There  the 
sun  pours  down  his  strength,  and  the  heated, 
rarefied  air  rises  up,  and  drinks  up  all  the 
vapor  which  the  ocean  can  send  inward,  long 
2 


18  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

before  it  can  become  a  cloud.  Owing  to  the 
position  and  the  rotation  of  the  earth,  the 
winds  from  the  Pacific  blow  from  the  west, 
one  half  of  the  year,  towards  the  east,  and  the 
other  way  the  other  half.  This  would  be  easy 
to  explain,  were  it  not  the  explanation  would 
be  too  long.  The  heat  of  the  Sacramento  and 
San  Joaquin  valley,  often  110^  to  120*^,  would 
be  intolerable,  were  it  not  for  these  unseen 
mists  that  flow  over  them  from  the  ocean. 
These  meet  the  cool  streams  of  air  which  every 
night  pour  over  the  snowy  Nevadas,  and  they 
drop  down,  not  in  rains  or  dews,  but  in  cool- 
ness ;  so  that  the  nights,  through  the  State, 
are  always  cool,  requiring  the  same  amount 
of  bed-clothing  in  summer  and  in  winter.  Man 
and  beast  are  refreshed  by  the  cool  night. 

The  atmosphere  is  so  dry  during  the  day, 
that  the  moisture  which  would  otherwise  be 
perspiration  on  the  body,  is  at  once  dried  up, 
and  both  man  and  beast  can  endure  more  and 


CLIMATE.  19 

do  more  work  tluiu  iii  any  other  climate  I 
ever  knew. 

I  saw  a  team  which  had  been  driven  over 
lofty  mountains,  a  distance  of  twelve  miles, 
three  times,  or  thirty-six  miles,  in  a  single 
day,  and  not  apparently  especially  fatigued ; 
and  I  saw  a  man  (Foss,  near. the  Geysers) 
who  drove  a  stage  one  hundred  and  sixty 
miles  in  a  single  day  —  with  relays  of  horses 
of  course  — this  summer.  The  horses  have 
a  speed  and  an  endurance  that  amazes  a  stran- 
ger. You  would  think  these  rich,  deep-soiled, 
fertile  valleys  would  abound  in  fevers.  Noth- 
ing of  the  kind.  I  doubt  whether  on  the  face 
of  the  globe  there  is  a  healthier  region. 

On  inquiry  as  to  the  healthiness  of  a  par- 
ticular village,  they  said  it  was  so  healthy 
that  when  they  had  finished  laying  out  their 
new  cemetery,  they  had  to  kill  a  man  to  put 
into  it ! 

In  the  summer  these  valleys  are   so  turned 


20  THE   SUNSET   LAND. 

up  to  the  suu,  that  everything  matures  and 
ripens  quickly  and  early.  They  were  gather- 
ing in  their  crops  in  the  middle  of  May.  But 
the  gentle  winds  that  climb  over  the  Coast 
Range  of  mountains  go  over  the  valley,  and 
fan  the  foot-hills  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas.  From 
May  to  November  there  is  no  rain  or  dew  in 
California.  The  w^heat,  the  barley,  and  every- 
thing has  ripened.  The  grass  has  dried  up, 
all  seeded,  and  still  making  rich  pasture  for 
the  cattle,  —  and  there  is  no  part  of  the  year 
when  the  flocks  fatten  so  fast  as  when  they 
eat  what  we  should  call  the  dried-up  grass 
in  the  fields,  good  for  nothing  here,  but  full 
of  seed  and  nourishment  there,  —  and  the 
ground  on  the  surface  parches,  and  cracks, 
and  wrinkles,  and  rests  till  the  fall  rains. 
The  beautiful  green  of  field  and  meadow,  of 
landscape,  hill,  and  dale,  which  makes  New 
England  so  lovely,  is  all  gone.  You  must 
w^ait   till   next   winter,    when    ive   are   covered 


FOOT-HILLS.  21 

with  snow,  to  see  their  creation  all  fresh  and 
green.  February  is  their  month  of  beauty 
and  of  glory,   as  June  is  ours. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  great  ranges  of  moun- 
tains. At  the  base  of  these,  are  smaller  moun- 
tains, called  foot-hills,  in  all  shapes  and  of  all 
sizes,  mingled  and  joined  together  by  spurs, 
very  much  as  the  bars  of  pig-iron  are  in  the 
furnace.  As  you  stand  on  one  of  these,  you 
see  gulches  scooped  out  on  all  sides,  and  the 
spurs  running  in  every  direction.  It  is  easy 
to  see  that  from  these  gulches  came  the  soil 
which  has  been  washed  down  and  made  the 
valleys,  which  everywhere  push  up  among  the 
foot-hills  and  spurs.  You  cannot  climb  a 
mountain  by  a  railroad,  as  you  would  one  of 
our  mountains,  by  gradually  going  up  its  side  ; 
for  you  would  find  that  you  would  have  to 
go  round  one  spur  and  gulch,  and  far  in 
round  another,  only  to  meet,  perhaps,  a  dozen 
more,  jutting  out  or  drawing  in,  in  all  dircc- 


22  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

tions.  In  one  instance  I  noticed  the  Central 
Pacific  Railroad  went  six  miles  to  get  round 
a  gulch,    in  order  to  gain  one  mile. 

As  there  are  no  clouds,  so,  of  course,  there 
is  no  'thunder  in  California,  —  at  least  none 
above  ground.  In  the  midst  of  this  great 
valley,  or  land  lake,  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco 
sets  up  directly  east  as  it  passes  through  the 
Golden  Gate,  and  then,  turning  south  round 
the  peninsula,  at  the  end  of  which  the  city 
is  built,  making  a  harbor  of  sixty-five  miles 
in  extent,  and  deep  enough  to  receive  all  the 
ships  of  the  world. 

It  was  a  long  study  before  I  could  make 
up  my  mind  Svhat  caused  the  narrow  gorge 
from  the  bay  to  the  ocean  to  be  called  the 
"  Golden  Gate."  It  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  gold  of  the  land,  for  the  name  was  given 
before  the  discovery  of  gold.  The  theory  I 
adopt  is  this.  As  you  approach  the  coast 
from  the    ocean,    the    entrance   seems    to  open 


GOLDEN   GATE.  23 

like  a  gate,  and  as  you  look  in  through  the 
fog,  you  see  the  yellow  sun-light  resting  upon 
this  fog,  bright  and  golden,  just  about  the 
narrowest  part  of  the  channel.  Here  the  fort 
stands,  and  hence  the  name  "  Golden  Gate.'* 
It  often  looks  like  a  pillar  of  fire  hanging 
over  the  gate. 

I  have  said  that  the  summer  is  so  long 
and  dry,  that  the  wheat  —  the  finest  the  world 
ever  saw — is  left  in  sacks,  in  th'e  fields,  for 
weeks.  As  a  fact,  it  becomes  like  kiln-dried 
wheat,  and  the  only  difficulty  with  it  is,  it  is 
too  dry  to  grind.  The  English  millers  carry 
it  to  England,  and  mix  it  with  their  damp 
wheat,  and  it  grinds  admirably.  In  Califor- 
nia, they  dampen  it,  either  by  passing  it 
through  a  kind  of  screw,  like  the  perpetual 
screw  of  a  propeller,  letting  in  a  little  stream 
of  water  as  the  wheat  enters  the  screw,  or 
they  let  a  small  stream  into  the  hopper  when 
grinding.      If   you    ask   how    big  the   stream 


24  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

should  be,  the  answer  is,  that  must  be  decided 
by  the  judgment  of  the  miller.  But  as  every 
pound  of  water  he  uses  adds  just  so  much 
w^eight  to  the  flour,  it  is  to  be  hoped  his  judg- 
ment and  conscience  will  both  be  good. 

As  to  the  natural  scenery  of  California,  it 
is  so  peculiar  that  art  injures  it.  If  you  want 
to  see  it  in  its  beauty,  look  at  it  before  man 
touches  it.  In  no  spot  in  the  State  can  you 
stand  without  seeing  mountains,  near  or  re- 
mote ;  and  very  few  where  you  cannot  see  the 
long,  western,  snow-capped  ridge  of  the  Sierra 
Nevadas. 

Now,  let  us  once  more  take  our  stand  on 
the  Nevadas,  and  look  around.  At  the  east, 
lie  the  great  alkali  deserts, — once  the  bot- 
tom of  a  great,  inland,  salt  sea,  but,  at  some 
remote  period,  heaved  up  by  volcanoes  with 
this  range  of  mountains.  As  you  look  north 
or  south,  you  see  the  ridge  and  the  jagged 
peaks  along  which   a  hundred  volcanoes  once 


NATURAL  DIVISIONS.  25 

blazed.  Here  are  twenty  thousand  square 
miles  most  plainly  of  volcanic  origin.  These 
mountiiins  bear  up  great  forests,  without  which 
the  railroad  could  never  have  been  built.  East 
of  this  ridge  lies  Silver  Belt,  beginning  far 
up,  perhaps  in  Alaska,  and  running  down  into 
Mexico  and  South  America.  It  is  as  much 
a^  three  hundred  miles  wide,  certainly,  at 
times.  Now  let  the  eye  turn  west.  You  see 
a  narrow  strip  under  the  brow  of  the  Sierra, 
of  not  much  account.  Then  comes  a  strip,  or 
belt,  twenty  miles  wide,  of  most  magnificent 
pine  forests.  Here,  in  this  belt,  stand  the 
sugar  pines,  often  full  three  hundred  feet  high, 
and  the  Sequoia  gigantea,  or  "  Big  trees,"  still 
loftier.  No  finer  pine  timber  than  that  which 
grows  on  this  belt  need  be  desired.  Then 
comes  a  belt,  about  forty  miles  wide,  begin- 
ning far  north  of  Oregon,  even  in  British  Co- 
lumbia, which  may  be  denominated  the  aurif- 
erous or  Golden  belt.     It  has  gold  under  the 


26  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

soil,  and  the  most  wonderful  fruit-bearing 
power  above  the  soil.  Here  the  fig  yields 
her  three  crops  a  year ;  here  the  pomegranate 
and  the  almond,  the  nectarine,  the  peach,  the 
cherry,  the  apple,  the  pear,  and,  above  all, 
the  grape,  have  their  home,  and  grow  with  a 
rapidity,  and  bear  with  a  profusion,  that  is 
almost  beyond  belief.  I  do  not  believe  a 
more  wonderful  belt,  of  the  same  extent,  can 
be  found  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  I  shall, 
of  necessity,  have  to  touch  upon  this  topic 
again,  when  I  come  to  speak  of  mining. 

As  you  pass  through  these  belts,  you  see 
the  mountains  and  hills  dotted  and  spotted 
with  pines,  with  cattle-paths  on  their  sides, 
just  far  enough  apart  to  let  these  natural  en- 
gineers crop  every  handful  of  wild  oats ;  or 
if  you  look  into  the  valley,  the  bright,  green, 
live  oak  stand  just  near  enough  to  look  like 
a  park  of  a  very  tasteful  gentleman.  On  these 
hills  grows  that   i^eculiar   bush,  the  manzanita 


COAST   RANGE.  27 

(or  little  apple),  whose  fruit  the  Indians  have 
for  generations  gathered,  to  give  a  kind  of 
zest  to  their  poor  acorns.  The  winds  that 
come  over  the  mountains,  leaving  the  fogs 
behind   them,    fon   and   cheer   all. 

Then  come  the  great  valley  of  the  Sacra- 
mento (you  are  moving  westward,  remember), 
and  the  little  valleys,  and  the  Coast  Kange 
of  mountains.  Pass  over  them,  and  you  find 
the  Ocean  kissing  their  base,  save  now  and 
then  a  little  clipping  out  of  the  mountain,  to 
create  a  little  valley.  On  that  western  side 
of  the  mountain,  amid  the  fogs,  gTOws  that 
remarkable  tree,  the  "  redwood,"  often  yielding 
boards  six  feet  wide.  It  is  a  species  of  cedar, 
and  is  more  used  in  building  houses  than  all 
other  woods  put  together.  Still  south  is  the 
other  half,  or  Lower  California,  Los  Angeles, 
—  the  Land  of  the  Angels,  — where  are  the 
fertility,  the  beauty,  the  fruits  of  the  tropics ; 
where  enterprise  will  find  a  thousand  sources 


28  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

of  wealth ;  where  wealth  may  sleep  in  the  lap 
of  beauty  —  a  vast  region  hardly  yet  taken 
into  account,  but  which  is  to  be  inferior  to 
no  part  of  the  State. 

Still  beyond,  are  quite  a  number  of  islands, 
some  covered  with  birds,  from  which  millions 
of  eggs  have  been  brought  to  the  city ;  others 
inhabited  by  the  sea-lion,  a  species  of  seal, 
weighing,  when  grown,  from  two  thousand  to 
five  thousand  pounds.  On  the  rocks  near  the 
shore  we  saw  perhaps  a  hundred  of  these 
awkward,  tawny  creatures,  one  of  which  they 
have  named  after  a  member  of  Congress  — 
v)liy,  I  did  not  ask ;  but  I  noticed  that  he  was 
very  pugnacious,  very  arbitrary,  very  noisy, 
and  that  he  made  a  great  splashing  when  he 
dove.  On  some  of  the  islands  are  thousands 
of  sheep  kept,  yielding  the  choicest  wool. 
One  man  has  a  flock  of  two  hundred  thousand. 
There  is  one  great  fact,  not  hitherto  noticed, 
and  which  is  yet  to  have  a  great  influence  on 


IRRIGATION.  29 

California  ;  and  that  is,  the  want,  the  necessi- 
ty, and  the  use  of  water.  During  the  long, 
dry  summer,  without  water,  the  gardens,  the 
flowers,  and  all  vegetation  die.  With  water, 
you  have  a  fertility,  a  beauty,  and  an  abun- 
dance, hardly  to  be  conceived.  Hence  a  ranche, 
with  a  stream  of  water  running  through  it,  is 
of  great  value.  Hence  the  windmills  every- 
where, near  almost  every  house,  drawing  up 
water  for  the  family,  for  the  cattle,  and  for 
the  garden.  It  should  be  noted,  however, 
that  all  vegetables  and  trees  have  a  long  tap- 
root, which  pierces  the  soil  deep  to  find  mois- 
ture ;  and  also,  that  it  is  the  top  of  the  soil 
that  is  so  dry.  But,  after  all,  irrigation  must 
and  will  come  into  use  more  and  more. 

Now,  at  the  foot  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Moun- 
tains  God  has  provided  for  all  this.  There 
are  over  two  hundred  lakes  and  ponds,  natu- 
ral reservoirs,  where  the  waters  are  stored 
up, — enough   to   turn  a  vast  territory  into   a 


30  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

garden  fair  as  Eden.  These  waters  have  hith- 
erto been  used  almost  solely  in  mining,  but 
in  time  they  will  be  led,  in  little  channels,  far 
and  wide,  and  be  a  source  of  wealth  far  great- 
er than  what  the  mines  yield.  The  power  of 
water  as  a  fertilizer  is  beyond  anything  that 
we,  in  this  land  of  clouds  and  showers,  have 
ever  witnessed.  For  thousands  of  3^ears  this 
power  has  made  Egypt  the  garden  of  the 
world.  .  I  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  this 
again,  w^hcn  I  come  to  speak  of  Salt  Lake 
City.  But  in  these  reservoirs  there  sleeps  a 
power  which  will  one  day  drive  mills  and  fac- 
tories, and  then  spread  over  the  soil,  and 
create  plenty  and  beauty  of  which  this  gener- 
ation little  dream. 

In  looking  at  the  sceuer}^  of  California,  we 
must  not  forget,  the  canons.  When  a  gorge 
is  so  deep  and  so  steep  that  you  cannot  climb 
up  the  mountain  on  either  side,  it  is  called  a 
"  canon."     If  you  can  climb  up  on   one   side, 


CANONS.  31 

and  not  tbo  other,  the  impassable  side  is 
called  a  bluff.  If  you  can  climb  up  both 
sides,  it  is  called  a  gorge.  Sometimes  the 
English  word  "  valley "  has  superseded  that  of 
canon.  Thus  the  wonderful  Yo-Semite  canon 
bears  the  name  of  valley. 

Before  the  railroad  was  opened,  the  course 
of  the  emigrants  was  over  the  arid  deserts  for 
months ;  and  then,  when  over  the  Nevada 
heights,  through  some  one  or  more  of  these 
canons.  Death's  Valley,  whose  bottom  is  noth- 
ing but  soft  alkali  mingled  with  sulphur,  — 
whose  bottom  is  also  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  below  the  level  of  the  sea,  —  whose  length 
is  from  forty  to  one  hundred  miles, — is  one 
of  these  canons.  It  received  its  name  from 
the  fact  that  no  living  thing  is  to  be  found 
in  it ;  and  also  because,  a  few  years  since,  a 
pai-ty  of  emigrants  got  in  it,  and  from  which 
not  a  man  or  a  beast  ever  came  out.  Their 
wagons   and   kettles  were   found  strung   along 


32  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

on  the  sides  of  the  canon,  as  were  also  then' 
bones,  where  they  fell,  m  their  vain  endeavors 
to  get  out. 

The  highest  pass  through  which  the  emi- 
grant went  is  ten  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  sixty-five  feet  above  the  ocean ;  and  there 
are  several  small  lakes,  also,  not  less  than 
seven  thousand  feet  above  the  ocean.  Such 
is  Lake  Mono,  fourteen  miles  long  and  nine 
miles  wide,  slumbering  among  the  tokens  of 
volcanoes,  and  inhabited  only  by  myriads  of 
the  most  noisome  flies. 

Lake  Tahoe,  fifteen  miles  from  the  railroad, 
is  already  becoming  a  favorite  resort  of  the 
Calif omians  in  the  summer.  It  is  twenty- 
three  miles  long,  fifteen  wide,  six  thousand 
two  hundred  and  eighteen  feet  above  the  sea, 
walled  in  by  mountains  from  one  to  four  thou- 
sand feet,  and  in  places,  the  lake  is  sixteen 
hundred  feet  deep.  Its  waters  arc  pure  as 
crystal,  and  it-  is  a  place  of  unsurpassed 
beauty. 


DONNER   LAKE.  33 

As  the  traveller  emerges  from  the  tunnel 
on  the  SieiTa  Nevada,  looking  from  the  cars, 
in  their  ascent  eastward,  on  the  left  hand,  he 
will  see  a  charming  little  lake,  fifteen  hundred 
feet  or  more  below  him,  calm,  blue,  and  beau- 
tiful. It  is  about  five  miles  long,  and  one 
mile  wide.  It  is  "  Donner  Lake."  And  who 
has  not  heard  of  Donner  Lake  ?  A  little  over 
twenty  years  since,  an  emigrant  train  of  fifty 
men  and "  thirty  Tvomen  and  children  encamped 
on  the  borders  of  this  lake,  late  in  the  sea- 
son, under  the  leadership  of  a  Captain  Donner. 
A  heavy  snow,  of  twenty  feet  in  depth,  shut 
them  in  the  canon,  and  prevented  their  ad- 
vance or  retreat.  Their  cattle  died,  and  they 
ate  them  to  the  very  last  string  of  their  skins. 
Then  famine  came  upon  them,  and  hunger  and 
starvation  stared  them  in  the  face,  —  nay, 
pressed  upon  them  wdth  maddening  power. 
They  could  hardly  wait  for  one  another  to  die 
before  they  consumed  the  body.  They  would 
3 


34  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

kindle  their  night-fires  in  their  several  little 
huts,  crouch  around  them,  creep  towards  each 
other,  and  glare  into  each  other's  eyes  with  a 
maddened  glare,  like  that  of  starving  wild 
beasts.  From  hut  to  hut  exchanges  of  limbs 
and  parts  of  the  human  body  were  carefully 
made,  payment  to  be  made  when  the  next 
one  died.  One  man  boiled  and  consumed  a 
girl,  nine  years  old,  in  a  single  night.  One  girl 
made  a  soup  of  her  lover's  head.  A  woman 
is  still  living  who  ate  her  own  husband.  A 
young  Spaniard  confessed  that  he  "ate  baby 
raw,  stewed  some  of  Jake,  and  roasted  his 
head."  I  have  seen  one  who  was  in  that  hor- 
rible party. 

In  the  mean  time,  as  we  are  told,  there  lived 
in  the  Napa  Valley,  not  far  from  San  Fran- 
cisco, an  old  hunter  by.  the  name  of  Blount. 
He  dreamed  that  there  was  such  a  party  suf- 
fering and  dying  in  the  mountains.  So  deeply 
was  he  impressed  with  the  dream,  that  in  the 


TiiK  hunter's  dheam.  35 

morning    he   went    twenty-three    miles   to    see 

another  old  hunter.     In  descril)ing  his  dream, 

• 

he-  drew  a  picture  of  the  canon  so  plain  that 
the  hunter  recognized  it  as  the  canon  of  Don- 
ner*s  Lake.  Immediately  they  set  out,  organ- 
ized a  party,  waded  through  the  deep  snows, 
found  the  Donner  party,  and  ultimately,  thirty 
out  of  the  eighty  were  rescued,  though  many 
of  them  frost-bitten  and  crippled  for  life.  But 
the  most  awful  part  of  the  tragedy  was,  that 
during  these  dreadful  weeks,  they  became  so 
besotted,  that  when  found,  —  filthy  beyond 
description,  with  parts  of  their  undevoured 
friends  around  them,  —  they  were  so  mad- 
dened, like  wild  beasts  that  have  once  tasted 
human  flesh,  that  they  had  to  be  literally  torn 
away  from  this  food,  and  most  reluctantly  ate 
the  food  which  their  deliverers  brought.  One 
Gorman,  still  living,  was  found,  after  being 
supplied,  cooking  human  flesh,  all  smeared 
with    its    blood.      It    was    thought    that    this 


36  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

ghoul  had  actually  committed  murder,  in  order 
to  have  one  more  feast ! 

Among  the  foot-hills  of  the  Nevadas,  t 
found  a  Minister  laboring  among  the  scattered 
sheep,  who  was  eleven  months  in  getting  over 
from  Illinois.  He  and  his  wife,  and  a  little 
child  four  years  old,  having  lost  their  cattle, 
and  all  the  rest  of  the  party  leaving  them, 
actually  walked  five  hundred  miles  before  they 
came  to  a  human  habitation.  They  are  all 
now  living. 

I  have  attempted,  thus  far,  to  help  you  to 
look  over  the  landscape,  and  see  California 
as  God  made  it.  I  have  thought  that  this 
introduction  was  necessary  in  order  to  show 
you,  in  filling  up  the  picture,  where  and  how 
everything  has  its  place.  In  the  vast  and 
lofty  mountains,  in  their  round,  beautiful  foot- 
hills, in  the  bewitching  valleys,  that  sleep  in 
beauty  through  the  country,  in  the  peculiarity 
of  climates,  in   the  gorgeous  drapery  of  trees 


BEAUTY   AND   WEALTH.  37 

and  flowers,  in  the  sleeping  gold  and  silver 
yet  unfound,  in  the  fertility  of  soil  and  the 
great  wealth  yet  to  come  from  it,  in  its  rela- 
tions to  the  Orient, — not  yet  touched  upon, 
—  I  see  a  future  for  this  part  of  our  land, 
great  in  results,  wide  in  their  reach,  fearful 
for  good  or  for  evil  to  the  human  family,  but 
all,  all  under  the  orderings  of  a  God  infi- 
nite in  wisdom. 


38  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 


CHAPTER    II. 

MINES,    MINING,    AND   THEIR   EFFECTS    ON  THE 
WORLD. 

Before  the  Mexican  war,  California  was  an 
unknown  land  —  terra  incognita.  The  vari- 
ous tribes  of  filthy  Indians  occupied,  but  neither 
improved  nor  enjoyed,  her  beautiful  valleys : 
the  wild  horse  and  cattle,  the  elk,  the  deer, 
and  the  bear,  roamed  unmolested.  The  moun- 
tain-quail called  to  his  mate,  and  the  valley- 
quail  heard  no  gun  :  the  mourning  dove  cooed 
in  his  loneliness,  and  the  rattlesnake  basked  in 
the  sun,  without  fear.  The  forests  stood  as 
if  listening  to  coming  footsteps,  and  beauty 
and  plenty  seemed  to  be  waiting  for  the  tread 
of  destiny.  The  indolent  Mexican  had  his 
rancho,  of  almost  unlimited   extent,  his  cattle, 


SPANISH   MISSIONS.  39 

which  he  killed  only  for  their  skins,  and  a 
few  beans  for  his  soup. 

The  Missions  established  by  the  monks  had 
partially  tamed  a  part  of  the  savages.  These 
missions  were  strong  in  cattle,  in  the  labor 
of  the  Indians,  and  in  the  rude  abundance  of 
a  very  rude  state  of  society.  But  a  stronger 
race  w^as  on  its  way,  whose  indomitable  en- 
ergy was  to  sweep  off  imbecility,  and  drive 
out  everything  that  could  not  compete  with 
it.  I  After  Mexico  became  independent  of 
Spain,  she  plundered  these  missions,  took  their 
property,  and  destroyed  them  forever ;  and, 
for  evil  or  for  good,  Mexico  alone  is  answer- 
able for  the  wreck  of  all  the  Catholic  Mis- 
sions in  California. 

While  the  Spaniards  held  possession  of  the 
country,  wanderers  on  the  ocean,  weary  of 
wandering,  fur  traders,  trappers,  and  adven- 
turers, gradually  came  in ;  and  though  the 
Mexicans    made    repeated    attempts    to    drive 


40  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

and  keep  them  out,  they  might  as  well  have 
attempted  to  drive  away  bees  from  the  honey 
which   they   could   not   cover   up. 

Captain  Sutter  had  a  large  Spanish  grant, 
on  the  Sacramento  Kiver,  and  there  he  plant- 
ed himself,  built  a  fort,  and  called  it  New 
Helvetia.  The  fruit  was  ripening,  and  was 
ready  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  those  who 
were  ready  to  catch  it.  In  1845,  Congress 
declared  (Mexico  owing  Jonathan  some  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  which  she  could  neither  pay 
nor  repudiate)  Texas  to  be  annexed  to  our 
country.  The  war  which  followed  clinched 
the  nail,  and  the  American  flag  was  planted 
in  California.  But  not  until  terrible  battles 
had  been  fought,  and  vast  wisdom  and  cour- 
age had  been  shown  by  John  C.  Fremont  and 
Commodore  Stockton,  did  the  land  have  rest. 

No  novel  could  be  more  thrilling  than  the 
history  of  the  fearful  struggles  to  decide  the 
question  who  should  own  California?     In  1845, 


EARLY    POPULATION.  41 

it  was  estimated  that  the  population  of  Cali- 
fornia was  eight  thousand  whites,  perhaps  ten 
thousand  domesticated  Indians,  and  from  one  to 
three  hundred  thousand  wild  Indians.  In  1847, 
the  emigrating  wagons  over  the  mountains  had 
poured  in  a  great  stream,  while  confidence  in 
the  safety  which  the  American  flag  gave,  had 
drawn  in  people  from  all  nations  till  the  popu- 
lation had  increased  to  twelve  or  fifteen  thou- 
sand in  the  whole  State.  But  now  an  event  was 
to  take  place  which,  beyond  all  others  unpar- 
alleled, was  suddenly  to  change  the  face  of  a 
country,  electrify  the  world,  and  jerk  forward 
the  progress  of  civilization,  at  the  rate  of  a 
century  in  a  few  years. 

In  the  winter  of  1847-8,  Sutter  was  build- 
ing a  saw-mill  on  the  south  branch  of  the 
American  River,  a  branch  of  the  Sacramento. 
Mr.  James  W.  Marshall,  the  contractor  to 
build  the  mill,  one  day  let  water  into  the  tail- 
race,    in   order    to    deepen   the  channel.     The 


42  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

water  carried  sand  and  mud,  which  it  soon 
deposited.  On  looking  down,  Marshall  discov- 
ered something  bright  among  the  sand.  At 
once,  on  feeling  of  its  weight,  he  was  con- 
vinced that  it  was  gold.  Eager  with  excite- 
ment, he  hastened  to  tell  Sutter.  On  seeing 
his  excitement,  and  hearing  his  story,  Sutter 
thought  he  had  gone  mad,  and  kept  his  eye 
on  his  loaded  rifle.  Marshall  tossed  an  ounce 
of  gold  on  the  table,  and  they  were  equally 
excited :  they  hastened  to  the  spot,  vowing 
secrecy.  But  as  they  continued  to  search 
under  an  excitement  they  could  not  conceal, 
a  Mormon  soldier  watched  them,  and  soon 
jjossessed  the  secret.  He  told  his  compan- 
ions, who  had  been  with  him  in  the  Mexican 
war ;  and  now  the  cat  was  fairly  out  of  the 
bag.  Warm  rumors  flew  in  every  direction, 
—  exaggerated,  of  course.  Gold  —  gold  was 
to  be  had  for  the  picking  up,  on  "  the  Rio  de 
los   Americanos."      The   population   rushed   in 


EXCITEMENT   OF   GOLD.  43 

u  swarm.  In  a  few  days,  more  than  twelve 
hundred  people  were  at  the  saw-mill,  digging 
with  shovels,  spades,  knives,  sticks,  wooden 
bowls,  and  everything  else.  Infants  were 
turned  out  of  cradles,  that  the  cradles  might 
be  used  for  washing  gold.  The  husband  left 
his  wife ;  American,  Spaniard,  *and  all  rushed, 
helter-skelter,  to  the  diggings.  Towns  were 
depopulated,  ships  left  sailorless,  —  everything 
thrown  away — all  feeling  sure,  if  they  could 
only  reach  the  diggings,  they  would  return 
milUonnaires.  In  the  mean  time,  other  streams 
and  gulches  were  found  to  contain  gold.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  whole  Nevadas  might  be  only 
a  thin  crust  over  mountains  of  gold.  A  few 
ships  got  away,  and  letters  and  gold  dust 
w  ent  with  them :  the  excitement  widened  its 
circle.  On  rushed  the  nearest  people,  the 
Mexicans ;  then  all  the  nooks  and  comers  of 
California  poured  out  their  population.  Ore- 
iX'^m   on   the    north,    the    Sandwich   Islands   on 


44  THE    SUXbET   LAND. 

the  west,  Peru  and  Chili  on  the  south,  poured 
in   their   easrer  diofo^ers.       Then  China  felt  the 

o  Co 

thrill,  and  her  people  flocked  over.  Austra- 
lia sent  her  convicts  and  rascals ;  and  adven- 
turers from  all  parts  of  the  earth,  having  noth- 
ing to  lose,  flew  to  California.  The  Mexican 
war  had  just  iTeen  closed,  and  thousands  of 
young  men  from  the  soldiery  went  to  the 
land  of  gold.  The  East  caught  the  fever,  and 
emigrant  wagons  uncounted,  hastened  over  the 
deserts,  leaving  the  bones  of  men  and  of  ani- 
mals to  bleach  along  their  path. 

On  —  on  to  the  land  of  gold  I  Ho  !  for 
California !  Ships  went  tossing  round  Cape 
Horn  full  of  young  men.  England,  Germany, 
France,  and  Italy  sent  multitudes.  At  once 
the  East  was  aroused,  and  sent  fifty  thousand  a 
year,  for  &vc  successive  years,  and  invested 
ninety-two  millions  of  dollars  before  any  return 
was  made.  In  a  time  incredibly  short,  there 
were    at    least   a    quarter  of   a   million  of  the 


EXCITEMENT   OF   GOLD.  45 

wildest,  bravest,  most  daring,  and  most  intelli- 
gent young  men  digging  gold.  There  was  no 
female  society,  there  were  no  homes  to  soften  or 
restrain,  no  laws,  and  no  magistrates.  From 
the  lakes  of  the  north  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
from  the  lumber-mills  of  Maine  to  the  settler 
on  the  Indian  territories,  the  whole  land  was 
moved. 

It  was  a  far-off  land,  where  there  were 
neither  houses,  nor  clothing,  nor  food.  As  a 
rare  luxury,  a  saloon,  composed  of  cloth  only, 
could  now  and  then  hang  out  tlie  sign  "pota- 
toes this  day ;  "  and  it  was  crowded.  Apples 
sold  at  five  dollars  apiece  in  gold.  Every- 
body had  "a  flush  of  gold.  Fortunes  were 
made  in  a  day,  and  lost  in  gambling  at  night. 
It  was  mean  not  to  spend  all  as  it  came. 
Every  man  was  loaded  with  gold,  revolvers, 
and  bowie-knives.  Nothing  was  valued  ;  noth- 
ing was  sacred.  It  will  be  readily  seen  how 
it  Avas  that  this  mining  population  could  be  so 


46  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

easily  excited  by  rumors  of  new  and  rich  dig- 
gings. Tell  them  that  at  such  diggings  every 
man  can  obtain,  at  the  lowest  mark,  five  hun- 
dred dollars  a  day,  and  all  would  rush  thither. 

At  one  time,  gold  was  discovered  up  near 
Oregon,  in  the  black  sand  on  the  sea-shore. 
Letters  came  saying  that  every  pound  of  sand 
would  yield  from  three  to  ten  dollars.  One 
gentleman,  who  had  been  sent  to  view  it, 
wrote  that  their  claim  would  yield  them  forty- 
three  millions  each !  In  two  days  eight  ves- 
sels were  advertised  from  San  Francisco  to 
the  Gold  Blufis.  But  the  excitement  died  at 
once  when  thousands  had  been  disappointed. 

At  one  time,  led  by  false  reports,  a  great 
current  set  down  to  Peru  —  to  find  nothing. 
At  another  time,  the  report  declared  that  won- 
derful deposits  were  found  on  Kern  River, 
and  at  once  five  thousand  were  g*i  the  spot, 
and  five  thousand  more  were  ready  to  folfew. 
It  lasted  a  few  weeks  —  but  long  enough  to 
ruin  hundreds. 


FRASER    RIVER    EXCITEMENT.  47 

Who  has  not  hcjird  of  the  Frascr  River  ex- 
citement? This  river  was  more  than  a  thou- 
sands miles  away,  up  in  British  Columbia. 
No  matter.  The  miners  were  spoiling  for  ex- 
citement. In  March,  the  account  of  the  mines 
was  published  ;  by  the  20th  of  April,  five 
hundred  were  on  their  way,  two  thousand  in 
May,  nine  thousand  five  hundred  in  June ; 
and  in  three  months  from  the  first  notice, 
eighteen  thousand  had  arrived,  by  the  aid  of 
nine  steamers  and  twenty  sailing  vessels.  Ev- 
ery sixth  voter  in  the  State  had  gone.  Real 
estate  fell  from  twenty-five  to  seventy-five  per 
cent.  Lots  that  had  been  sold  for  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollars,  could  be  bought  for  one  hun- 
dred. After  one  steamer  had  been  wi'ccked, 
and  millions  of  money  lost,  the  miners,  too 
late,  found  nothing  worth  staying  for,  and  so, 
in  the  course  of  the  season,  nearly  all  found 
their  way  back  to  **  God's  land,"  as  they  called 
it.*   In  1860,  the  mania  for  silver  mines  began. 


48  THE    SUNSET    LAND. 

On  one  mine, — tlie  Washoe,  —  buying  rights 
with  no  titles,  sending  out  men  who  knew 
nothing  about  the  business,  jumping  to  conclu- 
sions by  seeing  a  small  sample  of  ore,  hearing 
great  stories  of  the  richness  of  the  mine,  led 
the  population  to  be  almost  crazy.  Thirty 
millions  of  dollars  were  sunk  *  and  lost  in  this 
one  excitement.  Thousands  of  families  were 
reduced  to  poverty ;  but  as  a  few  were  made 
rich,  and  the  city  which  furnished  the  supplies 
was,  on  the  whole,  a  gainer,'  I  do  not  see  why 
the  same  experiment  may  not  be  repeated 
again   and  again. 

In  mining,  the  first  requisite  and  essential, 
after  finding  evidences  of  gold,  is  water  — 
water  to  wash  out  the  soil  and  sand,  leaving 
the  gold  behind.  When  they  first  began, 
they  carried  the  earth  on  their  backs,  or  on 
pack-horses,  two  or  three  miles  to  the  nearest 
water.  \  • 

You   are  a   miner,  we   will  suppose,   of  the 


GOLD-WASHING.  49 

poorest  and  eimplest  working  power.  In  that 
case,  you  have  a  pan  in  which  you  shovel 
the  earth,  and  then  wash  it  till  the  soil  is  out, 
and  the  gold  left  on  the  bottom.  But  the 
gold,  for  the  most  part,  is  very  fine.  It  is 
mere  dust.  Then  you  put  quicksilver  in  the 
bottom  of  your  pan ;  that  attracts  the  gold, 
and  forms  what  is  called  an  amalgam.  If  you 
have  got  beyond  the  simple  pan,  you  have  the 
rocker,  —  a  larger  vessel,  round  on  the  bot- 
tom, and  long,  like  a  hollow  log  split  length- 
wise ;  this  you  put  under  running  water,  and 
while  one  shovels  in  the  earth,  you  rock  and 
wash  it.  Or,  you  make  a  trough,  with  little 
slats  nailed  across  the  bottom  inside.  Here, 
above  the  slats,  you  put  your  quicksilver,  and 
let  in  a  stream  of -running  water,  while  you 
shovel  in  the  earth.  All  the  day  long  you  do 
this,  and  at  night  gather  out  your  amalgam. 
Now,  the  gold  is  scattered  through  all  the 
gulches  of  the  foot-hills,  and  the  necessity  of 
4 


50  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

running  water  has  created  Water  Companies, 
who  bring  it  along  on  the  sides  of  the  moun- 
tains in  ditches,  and  across  ravines  in  troughs 
held  up  on  trestle-work.  Sometimes  this  wa- 
ter is  brought  one  hundred  and  forty  miles, 
and  the  right  to  use  it  is  sold  to  the  miner 
by  the  square  inch.  A  more  productive  way 
is  what  is  called  the  hydraulic  method.  This 
is  now  the  most  expensive,  and  for  the  placer 
mining  the  most  profitable. 

Suppose  you  are  to  get  the  gold  out  of  a 
hill  or  flat  where  the  soil  is  sixteen  or  twenty 
feet  deep  before  you  come  to  the  bed-rock, 
which  underlies  all  the  hills.  You  bring  water 
from  any  distance,  however  great,  and  let  it 
fall,  say  fifty  feet,  through  a  hose  six  inches 
in  diameter.  This  hose  must  be  encased  in 
iron  rings,  —  rings,  so  that  you  can  bend  it, — 
and  very  near  each  other,  to  prevent  its  burst- 
ing. Or,  better  still,  in  i3lace  of  the  hose, 
you  have  iron  pipes,  through  which  the  water 


HYDRAULIC   MINING.  51 

rushes,  and  which  is  safer  than  the  hose, 
which  is  apt  to  "buck,"  as  they  call  it;  i.  e., 
twitch  and  jerk  as  would  a  live  buck,  if  held 
by  the  hind  leg.  Let  in  a  stream  through 
your  pipe,  as  big  as  your  wrist,  upon  the 
bank,  and  it  washes  it  down  with  amazing  rapid- 
ity. Being  dissolved,  it  flows  through  the  long 
trough,  where  the  quicksilver  lies  in  wait  to 
coui-t  and  embrace,  and  retain  it.  The  more 
soil  you  can  thoroughly  dissolve,  the  more 
gold  you  get.  After  all,  with  your  utmost 
skill,  you  lose  at  least  thirty-three  per  cent, 
of  all  the  gold  you  move  in  the  soil. 

At  some  remote  period,  when  all  the  rock 
under  the  soil  was  melting,  the  gold  seems 
to  have  been  melted  and  mingled  with  the 
quartz.  Some  of  this  quartz  is  very  hard, 
some  very  soft.  From  this  soft,  or  "rotten 
quartz,"  as  they  call  it,  this  detached  gold 
comes  sometimes  in  nuggets  worth  from  twen- 
ty dollars  to   fifteen   hundred,  but   more  gen- 


52  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

erally  in  very  fine  particles.  It  is  the  fine 
dust  that  escapes  in  the  water  running  through 
the  trough,  and  is  lost.  I  have  seen  nuggets 
worth  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  dollars  each. 
These  pieces  of  gold  are  found  in  the  sands 
and  beds  of  ancient  rivers,  and  are  as  plainly 
washed  and  rounded  by  the  action  of  running 
water  for  ages,  as  were  the  five  smooth  stones 
which  David  took  out  of  the  brook  for  his 
sling. 

Follow  up  one  of  these  beds  of  an  ancient 
river,  and  very  likely  you  will  find  a  moun- 
tain heaved  up  and  thrown  directly  upon  it. 
Then,  up  and  over  that  mountain,  very  likely, 
you  will  find  the  river-bed  running  at  right 
an<?les   with  its   old   channel. 

Although  it  seems  as  if  every  gulch  and  ra- 
vine had  been  explored,  yet  doubtless  a  mul- 
titude of  unknown  deposits,  remain  yet  to  be 
found.  As  thirty-three  per  cent,  of  all  the 
washings    is    lost,    the    Chinese,    indefatigable 


QUARTZ-MINING.  53 

gleaners,  come  after  all  other  miners  have 
left,  and  make  it  a  profitable  business  to  gath- 
er what  remains. 

Nothing  can  be  more  dreary  than  a  territo- 
ry where  the  soil  has  been  washed  out  as  low 
as  the  water  will  run  off.  Ten  thousand  rocks 
of  all  shapes,  and  forms,  and  sizes  are  left; 
acres  and  acres,  and  even  miles,  of  the  skel- 
etons of  beauty,  with  the  flesh  all  gone,  and 
nothing  but  hideousness  remaining.  I  have 
heard  it  asserted,  that  the  placer  mines  are 
about  exhausted,  and  that,  hereafter,  nothing 
but  the  rich  companies,  who  have  great  mills  to 
crush  the  quartz  rock,  can  gain  a  living.  I  do 
not  believe  this  is  true.  While  capital  and  skill 
can  gain  much  faster  in  quartz-mining,  I  have 
no  doubt  that  it  will  take  generations,  if  not 
a  thousand  years,  before  the  gold  is  so  washed 
out  of  the  soil  of  California,  that  mining  will 
not  be  a  paying  business.  In  the  quartz 
mines,  a  very  huge  water-wheel,  made  to  turn 


54  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

by  the  smallest  amount  of  water  possible, 
pumps  the  water  from  the  mine  as  fast  as  it 
accumulates ;  the  ore  is  then  dug  or  blasted  out, 
broken  into  pieces  about  as  large  as  the  fist, 
then  put  •  into  an  iron  mortar,  and  stamped 
with  iron  pestles,  till  it  is  so  red^iced  to  pow- 
der, that  water  will  wash  it  out  in  the  trough, 
where  the  quicksilver  lies  in  wait  to  catch  the 
gold.  This  amalgam,  quicksilver  and  gold,  is 
next  put  into  a  covered  retort  of  iron,  with  a 
a  pipe  allowing  the  fumes  of  the  quicksilver 
to  escape,  which  pipe  is  cooled  by  passing 
through  cold  water,  till  the  quicksilver  fumes 
are  condensed,  and  it  drops  down,  the  pure 
metal  it  was,  leaving  the  gold  in  the  retort. 
In  this  process,  about  twenty-five  per  cent,  of 
the  quicksilver  is  lost.  There  are  about  four 
hundred  and  fifty  quartz  mills  already  in  ojDer- 
ation  in  the  State,  and  the  number  is  con- 
stantly increasing.  In  the  placer  mines  the 
poorest  man  may  go  to  work,  only  paying  for 


QUARTZ-MINING.  55 

tlio  use  of  water.  In  the  quartz-mining,  vast 
capital  can  and  must  be  employed.  When  the 
little  claims  on  mining  land  have  been  staked 
out,  the  spirit  of  speculation  comes  in  to  buy 
and  sell  these  claims.  I  have  seen  many 
houses  bought  for  the  sake  of  the  soil  that 
mi^rht  be  due:  out  under  them.  The  useless 
house  is  left  standing  on  sticks. 

Aa  I  have  mentioned  quicksilver,  this  will 
be  the  proper  place  to  lead  you  to  its  source. 
Leaving  San  Francisco,  and  going  south  in  the 
Santa  Clara  valley,  nearly  seventy  miles,  you 
come  to  the  Almaden  mines,  the  largest  quick- 
silver mines  in  the  world.  It  is  a  wild,  weird- 
looking  place.  Up,  up  the  round  hills,  three 
miles  from  the  gorge,  are  the  mines,  nine  hun- 
dred and  forty  feet  perpendicular  height. 

The  history  of  this  mine  is  curious.  In 
1845,  a  Mexican  officer  met  a  tribe  of  Indians, 
with  their  faces  painted  with  vermilion,  which 
they  had  obtained  from  the  cinnabar  or  quick- 


56  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

silver  ore.  By  bribery  he  induced  the  Indians 
to  show  him  the  pkice.  Tlie  mines  are  on  a 
spur  of  the  Coast  Kange  of  mountains.  The  In- 
dians had  dug  fifty  or  sixty  feet  into  the  moun- 
tain, when  first  discovered  by  Captain  Castel- 
lero,  with  their  hard- wood  sticks.  Probably 
they  had  known  the  mines  for  many  genera- 
tions. A  quantity  of  skeletons  were  found  in  a 
passage,  where  life  had  undoubtedly  been  lost 
by  the  caving  in  of  the  earth.  Up  the  moun- 
tain, and  near  the  mouth  of  the  mines,  are 
the  cabins  of  the  miners  —  all  Mexicans.  For 
a  time  after  the  discovery,  it  was  supposed 
the  ore  contained  gold,  or  at  least  silver;  but 
k  gentleman  who  procured  a  retort,  and  ap- 
plied fire  at  the  bottom,  soon  found,  by  the 
pernicious  eflfects  of  the  fumes  on  his  system, 
that  he  had  caught  a  tiger. 

A  company  was  organized,  but  up  to  1850 
they  had  expended  three  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven  thousand   eight  hundred  dollars  over  all 


QUICKSILVER   MINES.  57 

receipts.  It  was  then  that  a  blacksmith,  named 
Baker,  introduced  a  new  process  of  separating 
the  metal  from  the  hard  stone  in  which  it  is 
imbedded. 

Suppose  you  want  to  get  the  quicksilver  out 
of  your  ore.  You  will  build  a  brick  building, 
two  hundred  feet  long,  the  rooms  of  which  are 
divided  by  thick  walls,  each  room  eighteen  feet 
high,  and  fifteen  wide,  and  thirteen  in  number. 
In  the  first  room  you  pile  in  your  ore,  fifty  lit- 
tle car  loads,  of  three  hundred  pounds  each,  or 
seven  and  a  half  tons.  Outside  of  the  ore  you 
have  your  furnace,  with  holes,  many  in  number, 
through  which  the  flames  are  drawn,  so  as  to 
heat  every  pound  of  ore.  The  fumes,  which 
are  quicksilver,  rise  to  the  top  of  the  room. 
There  they  find  an  opening  of  about  a  foot, 
the  whole  length  of  the  partition.  They  then 
drop  down  into  the  second  room,  to  find  an 
opening  at  the  bottom  of  the  next  wall. 
Through    this    they    rush,    alternately,    going 


58  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

over  one  wall  and  under  the  next,  through 
all  the  thirteen  compartments.  By  this  time 
the  fumes  are  cool,  and  drop  on  the  bottom 
of  the* room,  out  of  which,  on  the  floor,  a  little 
inclined  to  one  side,  the  metal  rolls,  through 
holes,  into  a  trough,  which  conveys  them  into 
a  great  iron  kettle,  holding  probably  a  ton. 
Out  ot*  this  it  is  dipped  into  strong  iron 
flasks,  containing  seventy-six  and  a  half  pounds 
each,  and  the  flasks  weighing  thirty-six  pounds 
each.  Each  flask  must  have  an  iron  cap  or 
stopper  strongly  screwed  on ;  and  the  flask 
must  not  be  full,  else,  on  exposure  to  the 
sun  and  heat,  the  quicksilver  will  ooze  through 
the  iron.  This  is  now  ready  for  market,  and 
you  send  it  all  over  the  world.  Much  of 
it  goes  to  China,  and  comes  out  again  in 
vermilion  paint.  While  you  have  this  fur- 
nace and  set  of  chambers  cooling  ofi",  which 
it  has  taken  you  ninety  hours,  without  ceasing, 
to  burn,  you  must  have  a  second  set  of  cham- 


QUICKSILVER   MINES.  59 

bers  in  the  process  of  burning.  The  chim- 
neys must  be  two  hundred  feet  high.  After 
all,  the  fumes  will  be  so  penetrating  and  per- 
vading, that  your  men  often  sicken,  and  must 
stop,  and  new  men  take  their  places.  With 
four  hundred  men  at  three  dollars  each  a  day, 
to  mine  and  run  the  ore  down  to  the  valley 
on  a  little  railway,  and  to  burn  and  bottle, 
you  make  two  and  a  half  million  pounds  of 
quicksilver,  at  forty  cents  a  pound,  wholesale. 
This  gives  you  an  income  of  one  million  dol- 
lars annually.  The  ore  contains  from  four- 
teen to  forty  per  cent,  of  metal.  Your  month- 
ly payments  are  forty  thousand  dollars.  As 
the  ore  bed  is  two  miles  wade,  you  have  no 
fear  of  exhaustion.  In  the  dark  chambers  of 
the  mine,  running  in  all  directions  like  the 
streets-  of  the  city,  you  want  sixty  pounds  of 
candles  daily  for  your  workmen;  i.  e.,  for 
twenty-four  hours,  for  so  you  keep  the  work 
going,   and  it  is  always   night  there.     A  pair 


60  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

of  trousers,  a  felt  hat  or  cap,  and  leathern 
sandals  tied  about  the  ankles,  constitute  the 
clothing  of  your  miners.  Each  man  makes 
about  thirty  trips  a  day  down  into  the  deep, 
deep  chambers  of  the  mines,  bringing  up  about 
two  hundred  pounds  of  ore  on  his  shoulders, 
held  there  by  a  strap  over  the  forehead,  whilst 
his  hands  grasp  the  ladders  that  he  must  climb 
or  descend,  in  order  to  get  his  ore  to  the  little 
cars  that  go  singing  off  down  to  the  smelting- 
rooms.  From  this  greatest  of  quicksilver  mines 
comes  the  metal  that  enables  the  miners  to 
gather  the  silver  and  gold  all  through  Califor- 
nia and  Nevada.  There  are  several  other  quick- 
silver mines  in  California,  the  united  produce 
of  which  was,  previous  to  the  last  year,  six 
hundred  thousand  flasks  of  seventy-six  and  a 
half  pounds  each,  and  in  the  aggregate  worth 
over   eighteen   million  dollars  at    wholesale. 

The    silver   mining    is    of  more   recent   date 
in  these  parts  than  the  gold.     The  silver  belt 


SILVER   BELT.  61 

lies  on  the  east  side  of  the  Nevadas,  commen- 
cing, probably  up  in  Alaska,  and  running  south, 
down  through  Mexico,  and  into  South  Amer- 
ica. This  belt  is  about  three  hundred  miles 
wide,  and  may  be  two  thousand,  and  even 
more,  in  length.  It  is  quarried,  broken,'  and 
crushed  very  much  as  the  gold  quartz.  Like 
all  that  is  money,  it  is  very  uncertain.  You 
may  have  a  claim  to-day,  that  is  rich  and 
promises  well,  and  you  could  sell  it  for  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars ;  but  to-morrow  the 
rock  may  stop,  or  you  lose  the  lode.  You 
may  find  it  again  after  you  have  excavated 
your  mine  one  hundred  or  three  hundred 
feet,  and  you  may  never  find  it.  In  seeking 
for  it  you  may  expend  all  you  have  in  the 
world,  and  never  find  it,  and  you  are  a  poor 
man.  You  rush  to  find  another  claim,  but 
you  may  try  twenty  and  not  find  silver.  So 
you  buy  claims,  and  probably  not  one  in  hun- 
dreds is  of  any  possible  worth.     Indeed,  those 


82  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

who  understand  the  thing  —  and  there  is  scarce- 
ly a  man  in  California  who  does  not  understand 
it  by  bitter  experience,  first  or  last  —  say  that 
it  is  like  a  lottery  where  there  is  one  prize  to 
about  ^VG  thousand  blanks. 

As  to  the  amount  of  precious  metals  that 
have  been  dug  out  of  the  soil  of  California 
during  the  twenty  years,  it  is  difficult  to  form 
an  estimate  on  which  you  can  rely.  As  near 
as  I  can  judge,  I  should  put  the  gold  at  one 
thousand  millions  of  dollars.  This,  if  all 
brought  together,  would  weigh  just  about 
two  hundred  tons.  The  silver  mining  is  now 
in  its  infancy,  but  the  yield  is  enormous. 
You  go  into  the  express  office  on  the  arrival 
of  the  daily  steamer,  and  you  are  amazed  at 
the  enormous  amount  of  huge  silver  bars  that 
have  just  come  in,  —  sometimes  three  tons  of 
these  in  a  single  day !  These  are  almost  all 
sent  off  in  the  bars  to  China,  and  other  parts 
of  the  world. 


SILVER-MINING.  63 

The  amount  yet  to  be  obtained  will  be,  I 
have  no  doubt,  prodigious ;  and  yet  I  would 
advise  every  one  to  let  mines  alone,  unless 
he  is  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  business, 
unless  he  is  on  the  ground,  and  also,  unless  he 
can  stay  and  watch  it,  with  a  great  capital  to 
invest,  and  has  a  faith  that  makes  him  willing 
to  run  great  risks.  The  first  opening  of  the 
silver  mines,  and  the  haste  with  which  the 
Californians  plunged  into  the  excitement,  cost 
them  thirty  millions  before  they  had  learned 
the  business.  Of  course,  disappointment,  and 
poverty,  and  suffering,  wide  and  deep,  were 
in  the  path  of  such  a  sinking  of  property. 
The  effects  of  mining  are  most  sad  on  the 
miners.  In  their  commencement  they  had  to 
associate  with  the  greatest  number  of  vaga- 
bonds, hardened  villains,  and  consummate  ras- 
cals, that  Avere  ever  assembled  together.  They 
had  to  associate  with  such,  away  in  a  new 
land,  away  from  all  the  restraints  of  home  and 


64  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

of  civilized  life, — where  thej  had  no  induce- 
ments to  save  their  money,  —  where  comforts 
and  luxuries  were  rare,  and  all  combined  to 
make  them  esteem  money  as  of  no  consequence 
beyond  the  present  hour,  and  hence  they  reck- 
lessly threw  it  away  in  gambling  and  drinking. 
They  were  mean  in  each  other's  eyes  unless 
they  spent  all.  Hence  they,  ^  a.  class,  are 
poor,  and  I  fear  always  will  be  poor. 

In  the  period  of  the  greatest  excitement,  it 
seemed  foolish  to  value  money,  when  you  had 
to  pay  three  dollars  apiece  for  eggs ;  for  poor 
sugar,  adulterated  tea  and  coffee,  four  dollars  a 
cup ;  for  laudanum  a  dollar  a  drop,  and  forty 
dollars  for  enough  to  put  you  to  sleep ;  ten 
dollars  for  a  single  pill,  and  from  thirty  up 
to  one  hundred  dollars,  if  swallowed  by  the 
advice  of  a  physician.  Even  toothache  was 
expensive,  when  the  luxury  of  having  it  taken 
out  cost  you  fifty  dollars  at  least.  Shovels 
were   fifteen   dollars  each,  and   a  common   tin 


RESULTS   OF  MINING.  65 

pan  eight  dollars.  No  man  would  help  another 
for  ten  minutes  under  five  dollars,  and  a  day's 
work  was  valued  at  thirty  dollars.  Is  it  any 
wonder  that  the  poor  miner  made  little  effort 
to  gave  anything?  They  can  have  no  homes, 
because,  as  they  exhaust  one  mine,  they  must 
move  off  to  another. 

In  Nevada  the  County  town  and  place  of 
holding  the  Courts  may  be  here  to-day,  and 
next  year  this  town  may  be  deserted,  and  the 
County  town  be  a  hundred  miles  off.  The 
County  officers  and  lawyers  all  follow.  It  is 
not  strange,  then,  that  the  miner  has  little  in- 
ducement to  lay  aside  any  part  of  his  earnings. 

One  of  the  greatest  blessings  that  could  be 
conferred  on  the  miners,  would  be  to  have  a 
kind  of  missionary,  in  whom  they  could  con- 
fide, reside,  among  them,  and  induce  them  to 
put  their  money  in  a  Savings  Bank. 

It  is  a  curious  indication  of  the  state  of 
society,  to  look  over  the  names  which  the 
5 


66  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

miners  give  to  their  towns  and  mining  camps, 
some  of  which  have  been  abandoned,  and  some 
still  occupied.  I  select  a  few  specimens  of 
the  names  actually  given  to  mining  towns,  viz.  : 
Yankee  Jim,  Red  Dog,  Loafer  Hill,  Gouge 
Eye,  Garotta,  Last  Chance,"  Ragtown,  Git- 
up-and-git,  Puppytown,  Nary  Red,  Paint- 
pot  Hill,  You  Bet. 

If  I  be  asked.  Has  not  all  the  gold  cost,  in 
time,  labor,  and  tools,  all  that  it  amounts  to, 
dollar  for  dollar?  I  reply.  Not  unlikely;  but 
suppose  it  has ;  the  time  and  the  toil  of  these 
tens  of  thousands  have  been  turned  into  per- 
manent property.  It  is  all  in  existence ;  the 
world  is  just  so  much  richer  for  the  mines. 
I  might  say  here,  that^ though  the  miners  are 
usually,  or  too  often,  awfully  profane,  yet  I 
received  nothing  but  most  respectful  and  kind 
treatment  in  my  intercourse  with  them. 

Nor  is  it  to  be  disguised,  that  the  natural 
result    of  an   unnatural   state  of    society,    the 


KESULTS   OF   MINING.  67 

ft 

unnatural  creation  of  property,  Is  to  make  a 
people  nervous,  active,  excited,  wanting  and 
determining  to  make  money  fast,  ready  to  spec- 
ulate, to  run  risks,  and  expect  to  fall  and 
rise,  and  rise  and  fall.  If  they  don't  specu- 
late in  mines,  they  are  tempted  to  do  so  in 
stocks,  in  real  estate,  and  in  anything  that  gives 
them  an  opportunity.  At  the  same  time,  it 
naturally  creates  a  generation  of  men  whose 
activity  is  a  marvel,  whose  impulses  are  all 
generous  and  noble,  who  share  their  last  dol- 
lar with  distress,  and  who,  rightly  directed, 
will  give  way  to  nothing  short  of  the  noblest 
emotions  of  the  human  heart. 

Now,  then,  let  us  look  at  the  opening  of 
these  great,  golden  deposits,  in  the  light  ol* 
an  overruling  Providence. 

The  quicksilver  mines  were  discovered  and 
worked  just  m  season  to  be  ready  for  the 
opening  of  the  gold  mines.  Without  this,  the 
gathering  of  gold  and  silver  had  been  vastly 


68  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

retarded,    and    the    percentage    secured    very 
small. 

Then  came  the  news  of  the  discovery  of 
gold,  and  what  had  been  called  the  Golden 
Gate  was  now  really  the  entrance  to  untold 
treasures.  The  news  rocked  the  continent. 
The  rush  for  the  mines  was  without  a  paral- 
lel. In  self-defence,  to  protect  their  own  lives, 
they  formed  a  provisional  government;  and 
before  the  infant  had  time  to  pass  through 
childhood  or  youth,  it  stood  up  a  full-grown 
man,  and  knocked  at  the  door  of  Congress  for 
admission.  It  had  not  had  time  to  be  a  ter- 
ritory. California  came,  the  daughter  of  the 
sunset,  with  her  garments  bright  and  heavy 
with  gold,  and  asked  to  be  admitted  into  the 
sisterhood  of  States ;  and  who  could  refuse 
her?  The  first  result,  then,  was  to  create  a 
new,  strong,  noble  State,  and  to  stretch  the 
dominion  of  the  Republic  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean. 


RESULTS    OF    THE    MINES.  69 

A  second  result  was,  that  the  productions 
of  these  mines  did  very  much  to  steady  the 
nation,  and  carry  it  forward  during  a  war,  un- 
precedented in  the  annals  of  the  human  race, 
look  at  it  from  any  point  you  choose.  While 
Government  had  to  fly  to  paper  money,  stretch 
its  credit  to  the  utmost  limits,  and  pawn 
the  property  of  posterity,  to  enable  it  to  move 
on  to  victory  and  triumph,  and  while  I  know 
how  much  we  owed  to  the  mowing,  the  reap- 
ing, and  the  sewing  machine,  and  to  our  fac- 
tories with  their  machinery,  —  equal  to  the 
labor  of  a  million  of  men, — to  carry  us 
through  the  war,  and  without  which  we  could 
never  have  succeeded,  still,  there  was  the  great 
fact  before  the  minds  of  all,  that  there  was  an 
enormous  amount  of  gold  in  the  land,  above 
ground  and  beneath  the  ground ;  and  these 
mines  were  a  Confidence-bank,  that  did  much, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  to  hold  the  nation  quiet j 
when   the  very  foundation-stones   of  the  Gov- 


70  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

eriiment  seemed  to  be  torn  up  by  the  awful 
convulsions  of  war. 

Again,  at  this  very  hour,  when  the  confi- 
dence of  the  whole  world  is  every  day  be- 
coming stronger,  that  we  shall  pay  every  far- 
thing of  our  national  debt,  we  must  feel,  that 
this  confidence  rests  very  much  on  the  fact, 
that  we  have  so  much  gold  in  our  vaults,  and 
can  dig  it  and  coin  it  almost  without  limits. 
Steadily  the  old  ship  moves  on,  amid  squalls 
and  storms,  because  she  has  so  much  gold  for 
ballast.  Every  man  in  the  United  States  is 
the  richer  for  the  confidence,  now  strong  and 
universal,  that  w^e  shall  never  repudiate  our 
debt — an  event  which,  were  it  to  take  place, 
w^ould  fill  the  world  with  misery ;  and  all  this 
security  rests  very  much  on  the  mines  of  Cal- 
ifornia. 

Again,  that  Eailroad  that  has  climbed  and 
laid  the  Rocky  Mountains  under  its  feet,  that 
spans   the    continent,    that    brings    China    and 


RAILROADS   AND   MINES.  71 

Asia  to  be  door  neighbors,  of  whose  influence 
I  am  yet  to  speak,  could  never  have  been 
built,  would  never  have  been  built,  had  it  not 
been  for  these  mines.  The  people  had  not 
been  there,  the  energy  and  mind  had  not  been 
there,  nor  had  the  means  with  which  to 
achieve  that  stupendous  work.  That  is  not  to 
be  a  pleasure  path  for  the  summer  tourist,  nor 
a  highway  for  enterprise  and  commerce,  mere- 
ly, but  a  pioneer  for  inaugurating  a  system 
of  influences  whose  greatness  we  cannot  yet 
begin  to  comprehend. 

The  discovery  of  gold,  and  the  amount  ob- 
tained, have  given  a  stimulus  to  commerce,  to 
agriculture,  to  every  department  of  life.  They 
have  created  impulses  that  have  advanced  civili- 
zation, and  shaken  up  nations,  and  poured  one 
country  into  another,  till  we  hardly  know  what 
will  be  next.  The  arts  have  advanced,  archi- 
tecture has  made  new  discoveries  in  applying 
its  skill,   manufactures    have  been  called  upon 


72  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

to  supply  more  people,  and  with  better  gar- 
ments ;  and  if  a  few  have  played  the  fool  by 
sudden  riches,  the  great  mass  of  the  people 
have  been  greatly  benefited.  If  it  be  said  that 
the  silver  and  the  gold  have  made  us  extravagant 
Sudvain,  —  and  it  undoubtedly  is  true,  —  yet 
things  will  come  right  of  themselves  in  a  little 
time,  and  when  silver  dishes  in  our  houses 
become  as  common  as  pewter  were  in  the  days 
of  our  fathers,  we  probably  shall  be  no  more 
vain  of  them  than  were  our  fathers  and  moth- 
ers of  their  pewter.  It  is  already  vulgar  to 
consider  these  things  as  marks  of  gentility  or 
wealth.  Since  this  outpouring  of  the  silver 
and  the  gold  from  the  mines,  we  are  every  way 
improved;  we  have  better  clothing,  better 
houses,  better  carriages,  better  school-houses 
and  churches,  and  schools  and  colleges,  bet- 
ter books  and  libraries,  better  ships  and  steam- 
boats, better  goods  manufactured,  and  every- 
thing better.     Not  only  so,  but  where  one  used 


NEW  ordp:r  of  things.  73 

to  have  these  good  things,  ten  have  them  now.  ^ 
The  whole  plane  of  human  comforts  and  enjoy- 
ments has  been  raised  up  many  degrees.  The 
last  twenty  years  have  seen  the  world  moved 
ahead  in  Christian  civilization  farther  than  in 
any  centmy  before.  Whether  all  this  is  for  the 
good  or  for  the  injur}^  of  this  and  coming  gen- 
erations, we  can't  help  it.  The  world  is  shoved 
ahead  a  full  century ;  but  I  am  not  to  sit  down 
and  mourn  over  the  departure  of  old  ways  and 
things,  so  long  as  I  feel  confident  that  all  this 
is  under  the  Divine  direction,  and  that  the 
wires  are  all  held  in  his  hand,  and  will  vibrate 
to  God's  glory.  There  will  be  no  going  back 
to  old  prices,  and  for  the  simple  reason,  there 
is  so  much  more  gold  and  silver  in  the  world. 
You  cannot  bury  it  in  the  mines  again ;  and  thus 
money  will  be  plenty  and  everything  else  dear. 
There  is  not  a  child  in  the  land,  nor  a  woman 
with  her  increasing  wardrobe,  who  is  not  far 
better    dressed    to-day    than     at    any   former 


74  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

period.  We^may  talk  of  the  good  old  times, 
but  all  times  are  good,  if  we  use  our  mercies 
feeling  our  accountability  to  God,  and  to  our 
brethren,  the  human  family. 

Can  we  not  see  now  that  the  discovery  of 
gold  on  the  Pacific  slope  evinces  a  strong 
evidence  of  an  overruling  Providence?  There 
the  precious  metals  were  created  and  laid 
away  in  the  dark,  till  the  human  family  had 
migrated  westward  from  their  starting-point 
in  Mesopotamia,  till  they  had  a  new  conti- 
nent in  their  hands,  till  human  civilization 
had  advanced,  till  there  was  not  a  circulating 
medium  to  move  its  property  and  supply  its 
wants,  till  the  world  was  ready  to  leap  up 
for  a  new  race  in  human  improvement ;  then 
the  gold  on  which  the  savage  foot  had  trodden 
for  ages,  which  his  taste  valued  less  than  the 
fish-bone  ornaments  which  he  strung  around  his 
neck,  flashed  out  of  its  daj-k  hiding-place ;  and 
this  continent   has  a  new  and  an  awful  power 


GOOD   RESULTS   TO   SOCIETY.  75 

for  good  or  for  evil,  a  power  with  which  it 
may  roll  down  woes  on  unborn  generations, 
or  by  which  it  may  bless  all  the  families  of 
the  earth,  and  bring  glory  to  God  on  earth, 
and  deepen  and  multiply  the  anthems  of 
heaven  to  all  eternity. 


76  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 


CHAPTER     III. 

THE   BIG   TREES    AND   YO-SEMITE  VALLEY. 

There  is  a  natural  tendency  to  disbelieve 
the  traveller  who  comes  back  and  reports 
things  which  he  has  seen,  that  are  very  unlike 
our  own  experience.  We  think  he  must  have 
been  in  a  kind  of  mental  fog,  in  which  every- 
thing looked  large ;  or  he  must  have  been 
credulous  and  easily  imposed  upon ;  or  that 
he  comes  home  wishing  to  be  a  hero,  and  is 
therefore  tempted  to  exaggerate.  It  is  also  an 
acknowledgment  of  our  own  ignorance  and 
want  of  enlargement,  to  own  that  another  has 
seen  what  we  never  saw,  and  can  tell  us  of 
things  which  we  cannot  deny,  but  which  we 
can  doubt. 

I  am  about   to   speak  of  things,  which,  ac- 


BIG   TREES.  77 

cording  to  what  we  have  seen  and  known, 
cannot  be  true ;  and  all  we  can  do,  in  such  cases, 
is  to  shake  the  head  gravely,  look  wise,  and 
feel  that  we  know  it  all.  Now,  I  shall  not, 
probably,  state  a  fact  which  has  not  been  stated 
before,  and  which  will  not  be  tested  hereafter 
by  many  of  my  readers ;  and  yet  I  shall  not 
be  surprised  if  what  I  say  shall  be  doubted. 
But  we  have  no  time  for  moralizing.  Who  has 
not  heard  of  "the  Big  Trees"  of  California? 
In  1830  we  heard  of  trees  in  that  land  whose 
height  was  nearly  three  hundred  feet.  The^e, 
however,  were  the  common  sugar  pines  of  the 
region ;  they  were  not  tJte  big  trees  since  dis- 
covered, and  which  no  visitor  of  California 
should  fail  to  see.  Though  the  name  of  "  I. 
M.  Wooster,  1850,"  is  carved  on  one  of  these 
trees,  it  was  not  till  1852  that  a  hunter,  by 
the  name  of  Dowd,  having  wounded  a  bear, 
which  he  followed  till  he  came  to  a  group  of 
these  huge  trees,  made  them  known.     Forget- 


78  THE   SUNSET   LAND. 

ting  his  bear,  he  gazed  in  astonishment,  and 
finally  returned  to  the  camp,  where  men  were 
constructing  water-works.  His  tale  was  re- 
ceived with  shouts  of  laughter  and  derision. 
A  few  days  afterwards,  having,  as  he  said, 
wounded  a  huge  grizzly  bear,  he  induced  the 
whole  company  to  go  and  help  him  get  the 
beast.  Thus  he  led* them  over  hill  and  gorge, 
till  they  stood  among  "the  big  trees,"  and 
were  convinced,  that  if  Dowd  had  deceived 
them  in  regard  to  the  bear,  he  had  not  in  re- 
gard to  the  trees.  If,  then,  "  Wooster,"  who- 
ever he  may  be,  first  saw  them,  Dowd  was 
the  first  to  make  them  known  to  the  world. 
"  The  big  tree "  is  evidently  a  species  of 
cedar,  though  it  has  cones  like  a  pine.  It  also 
seems  to  have  leaves  like  the  cedar.  Its  wood 
is  hard  and  brittle ;  the  heart  is  red  and  fine- 
grained, like  our  red  cedar.  These  trees  have 
drawn  pilgrims  from  every  part  of  the  world, 
and  their  fame  is  all  over  the  globe.     Noble- 


CALAVERAS   GROVE.  79 

men  and  titled  ladies  have  gazed  at  them  with 
wonder. 

There  are  several  groves  of  them,  such  as 
the  Calaveras,  the  Mariposa,  the  South  Grove, 
the  Frezno  Grove,  and  probably  many  not  yet 
discovered. 

About  eight  miles  south  of  the  Calaveras  is 
a  grove  five  miles  long,  and  containing  a  great 
number.  I  have. heard  seven  different  groves 
mentioned  by  name.  In  one  grove  over  six 
hundred  of  these  trees  have  been  counted.  I 
visited  two  different  groves,  in  each  finding 
the  same  huge,  century-looldng  minarets, 
towering  up  in  unconscious  grandeur,  and  im- 
pressing upon  the  beholder  the  feeling  that 
they  must  be  the  relics  of  some  former  world. 

Among  all  tlie  groves  (and  only  two  or 
three  can  yet  be  visited  without  great  discom- 
fort) ,  the  Calaveras  grove  is  the  most  beautiful. 
It  is  about  two  hundred  miles  east  of  San 
Francisco,  and  the  last  fifteen  miles  is  a  ride 


80  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

over  mountains,  amid  scenery  exceedingly  beau- 

• 
tiful.  On.  reaching  the  spot,  you  find  a  charm- 
ing valley  four  thousand  three  hundred  and  sev- 
enty feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  three 
hundred  and  seventy  feet  higher  than  our  Grey- 
lock,  the  highest  mountain  in  Massachusetts. 
You  rise  over  two  thousand  feet  in  the  last 
fifteen  miles.  The  grove  is  a  spot  of  unri- 
valled beauty,  containing  a  grand  old  forest  of 
sugar  pines,  scattered  among  which,  on  an 
area  of  fifty  acres,  you  find  one  hundred  and 
three  of  these  Sequoia  gigantea  of  the  Taxodium 
family.  But  now  you  are  disappointed;  the 
trees  do  not  look  as  you  expected ;  they  are 
not  as  large ;  their  bark  is  unlike  what  you 
imagined;  they  look  as  if  somebody  had 
stripped  oflf  their  clothing^  and  left  them  in 
their  night  dress.  You  wonder  what  the  mat- 
ter is,  and  you  soon  discover  that  the  whole 
forest  is  gigantic.  The  sugar  pines  shoot  up 
nearly  or  quite  three  hundred  feet,  with  trunks 


CALAVERAS   TREES.  81 

in  proportion.  You  see  a  yellow  pine  cut 
down  near  by,  out  of  which,  the  last  win- 
ter, they  wrought  thirty-five  thousand  feet 
of  boards,  clear  stuflT,  and  stopped  when  the 
tree  got  down  to  only  four  feet  in  diameter. 
Thus  you  find  you  have  no  means  of  compar- 
ing. It  is  like  comparing  a  man  six  feet  six 
with  men  six  feet  five  and  four.  You  must 
walk  among  them,  and  around  them,  and  take 
out  your  marked  tape-line  and  measure  them 
again  and  again,  before  you  can  begin  to  get 
the  right  impression.  It  was  a  matter  of 
amazement  to  us  that  they  could  grow  so 
much  in  a  sinofle  nisfht.  But  the  heio-ht  of 
enjoyment  is  to  lie  down  on  your  back  in  the 
twilight  of  evening  or  under  the  full  moon,  and 
look  up,  say,  ten  feet  at  a  look,  till  the  eye 
has  travelled  all  the  way  up  to  the  top  —  over 
three  hundred  feet.  We  forget,  too,  when 
looking  at  a  tree  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  and 
wonder  why  it  is  not  larger,  that  a  pine  tree 
6 


82  THE   SUNSET   LAND. 

with  us,  which  is  five  feet  in  diameter,  is  a 
monster.  I  never  saw  but  one  of  that  size  at 
the  North.  Let  us  noAV  walk  into  the  grove  : 
the  fii'st  impression  you  receive,  is,  that 
these  giants  must  be  very  old ;  how  old  you 
cannot  possibly  say.  By  counting  the  con- 
centric circles  in  the  tree,  some  will  count 
thirteen  hundred,  and  some  near  three  thou- 
sand —  making  the  tree  as  many  years  old. 
For  my  own  part,  though  I  have  heard  it 
claimed  that  they  are  four  thousand  years 
old,  yet  I  should  not  be  willing  to  certify 
for  more  than  half  that  age.  You  are  struck 
unpleasantly  that  the  names  of  men,  such 
as  modern  generals  and  colonels,  should  be 
screwed  to  trees  that  have  been  living  and 
bearinof  the  storms  of  earth  centuries  before 
these  men  were  ever  heard  of.  Why  should 
such  names  as  "  Phil  Sheridan "  be  attached  to 
a  tree  that  perhaps  saw  light ,  before  the  star 
arose  over  Bethlehem,  or  Titus  besieged  Jeru- 


aiLAVERAS    TllEES.  83 

salem?  But  there  they  are,  and  you  may  speak 
to  **  George  Washington,"  "Abraham  Lmcohi," 
"Daniel  Webster,'^  "  W.  H.  Seward,"  and  even 
"  Andrew  Johnson,"  and  a  host  of  other  names ; 
or,  if  you  want  to  address  whole  States,  there 
is  the  "Granite  State,"  "Vermont,"  "Old  Do- 
minion," "  Old  Kentucky,"  and,  not  least,  the 
"Old  Bay  State,"  and  many  others. 

Now  for  measurements :  some  of  these 
trees,  probably  a  quarter  in  all  the  groves, 
are  over  twenty-five  feet  in  diameter,  scores 
that  are  thirty  feet,  and  I  know  of  at  least 
half  a  dozen  that  are  thirty-two  or  thirty- 
three  feet  in  diameter.  You  see  that  husre 
log  lying  near  the  hotel,  whose  stump,  close 
by,  has  a  house  built  over  it;  that  tree  was 
perfectly  sound,  thirty-two  feet  in  diameter. 
Five  men  worked  twenty-five  days  with 
pump-augers  before  they  could  cut  it  down. 
The  stump  is  cut  five  feet  from  the  ground, 
and    a    cotillon     party    of      thirty-two     have 


84  THE   SUNSET   LAND. 

danced  four  sets  .  of  cotillons  on  it  at  once, 
not  counting  musicians  and  spectators,  who 
were  also  on  it.  Twenty  feet  in  length  of 
this  log,  which  you  can  mount  only  by  wood 
steps,  twenty-eight  in  number,  and  long  ones 
too,  would  make  forty-nine  thousand  feet 
of  boards,  worth,  at  our  prices,  over  two 
thousand  dollars.  But  to  get  an  idea  of  the 
diameter  of  one  of  these  trees,  take  a  cord 
and  measure  oif  thii'ty-two  feet,  and  see  who 
has  a  parlor  as  large  as  the  diameter  of  that 
tree.  "  Abraham  Lincoln  "  is  three  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  high.  The  "  Mother  of  the 
Forest,"  three  hundred  and  Wenty-seven  feet 
high,  has  had  the  bark  stripped  for  one  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  feet.  The  bark,  in  places, 
was  two  feet  thick.  I  have  before  me  a 
piece  of  it,  two  feet  long  and  a  little  over  one 
wide,  or  deep.  The  diameter  of  this  tree 
at  the  base  was  thirty  feet.  Thus  one  tree, 
it    has   been    computed,     would     have     made 


CALAVERAS   BIG   TREES.  85 

five  hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand  feet  of 
one-inch  lumber.      This,  as  hiijiber  is  selling    . 
with  us,  would  amount  to  the  modest  sum  of 
twenty-four  thousand,  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  dollars. 

Near  by  is  the  "  Father  of  the  Forest,"  pros-  \^ 
trated  for  generations,  half  buried  in  the  soil, 
yet  a  mighty  wreck.  His  circumference  was 
one  hundred  and  twelve  feet  at  the  base,  his 
diameter  thirty-seven  and  one  third  feet.  The 
first  limb  was  two  hundred  feet  from  the 
ground.  This  is  now  a  knot-hole,,  through 
which  I  easily  crept,  and  after  'me  my  friend, 
—  far  more  of  a  man  than  I  am,  though  I  am 
not  sure  that  he  is  aware  that  it  was  my  hand 
that  placed  the  ladder  at  the  hole,  without 
which  neither  he  nor  I  could  have  reached  it. 
This  tree  was  broken  by  the  fall  three  hundred 
feet  from  its  roots,  and  was  eighteen  feet  in 
diameter  at  the  breach.  It  is  estimated  that 
this   tree   could   not  have  been  less  than  four 


8Q  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

hundred  and  fifty  feet  high !  Truly  he  de- 
serves the  name  of  the  "  Father  of  the  Forest." 
Around  this  fallen  monarch  stand  many  other 
graceful  trees  of  his  species,  as  if  they  were 
his  children,  as  they  probably  are,  watching 
over  the  great  sleeper.  I  should  love  to  de- 
scribe to  you  the  "husband"  and  "wife," 
each  twenty  feet  in  diameter,  most  gracefully 
leaning  towards  each  other,  as  if,  in  their  age, 
they  felt  the  need  of  mutual  sympathy  and 
support. 

Then  there  is  the  "Pride  of  the  Forest," 
and  the  "Three  Graces,"  and  the  "Two  Senti- 
nels," under  whose  dome  you  want  to  linger. 
The  largest  tree  yet  found  in  all  these  groves, 
is  a  noble  old  hero,  — charred,  bark  and  limbs 
gone,  yet  its  upturned  base  measuring  thirty- 
three  feet  without  the  bark.  In  its  vigor, 
with  its  heavy  bark  all  on,  it  must  have  meas- 
ured forty  feet  in  diameter,  and  one  hundred 
and  twenty  in  circumference,  and  at  least  four 


NEW   BIG  TREES.  87 

hundred  feet  high.  I  have  before  me  a  pic- 
ture of  the  **  Grizzly  Giant,"  at  least  thirty 
feet  in  diameter.  Straggling  hunters  report 
groves  where  the  trees  are  even  of  still  larger 
dimensions.  I  would  add  that  among  these 
gi-oves  are  a  multitude  of  young  trees,  not 
more  than  ^ve  hundred  or  a  thousand  years 
old,  and  which  promise,  if  nothing  happens, 
some  fifteen  hundred  years  hence,  to  become 
very  respectable  trees.  Many  now  standing 
have  been  sadly  injured  by  the  fires  which 
the  Indians,  in  former  years,  built  against  them. 
It  makes  one  feel  almost  indignant  at  a  stu- 
pidity which  could  see  nothing  in  these  trees 
but  a  good  back-log  for  their  fires.  Nothing 
in  the  future  is  so  much  to  be  dreaded,  in 
regard  to  them,  as  forest  fires.  These  trees 
are  the  only  living  things  that  connect  us  back 
to  ages  that  are  gone.  Perhaps  before  Rome 
was  ever  named,  and  long,  certainly,  before 
men   dreamed  of  this  continent,  these  minarets 


88  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

of  the  solitudes,  unchecked  in  their  growth 
by  cloudy  days  or  deep  frosts,  were  lifting 
up  their  young  heads,  to  be  ready  and  waiting 
for  eyes  that  could  appreciate  them,  when  the 
men  of  the  nineteenth  century  should  gather 
around  them. 

**  These  giant  trees,  in  silent 'majesty, 
Like  pillars  stand  'neath  heaven's  mighty  dome. 
'T would  seem  that,  perched  upon  their  topmost  brancli, 
"With  outstretched  finger  man  might  touch  the  stars ; 
Yet,   could  he  gain  tliat  height,  the  boundless  sky 
Were  still  as  far  beyond  his  utmost  reach, 
As  from  the.  burrowing  toilers  in  a  mine. 
Their  age  unknown,  into  what  depths  of  time 
Might  Fancy  wander  sportively,  and  deem 
Some  monarch-father  of  this  grove  set  forth 
His  tiny  shoot,  when  the  primeval  flood 
Receded  from  the  old  and  changed  earth? 
Perhaps  coeval  with  Assyrian  kings, 
His  branches  in  dominion  spread;  from  age 
To  age  his  sapling  heirs  with  empires  grew. 
When  Time  those  patriarchs'  leafy  tresses  strewed 
Upon  the  earth,  when  Art  and  Science  slept, 
And  ruthless  hordes  drove  back  Improvement's  stream, 
Their  sturdy  head-tops  throve,  and  in  their  turn 
Rose  when  Columbus  gave  to  Spain  a  world. 
How  many  races,  savage  and  refined, 
Hav.e  dwelt  beneath  their  shelter?    Who  shall  say 


BIG  TREES.  89 

(If  hands  irreverent  molest  them  not) 
But  they  may  shadow  mighty  cities,  reared 
E'en  at  their  roots,    in  centuries  to  come, 
Till  with  the  everlasting  hills  they  bow, 
When  tinje  shall  be  no  longer." 

Groves  of  Mariposa  and  Calaveras,  fare- 
well I  We  never  before  saw  ages  of  time 
stamped  upon  a  tree  ;  never  conceived  in  what 
forms  greatness  that  awes,  and  grandeur  that 
humbles,  could  be  thus  embodied  ;  never  before 
stood  before  living  age  so  marvellous  that  one 
wanted  to  take  off  the  hat,  and  look  solemnly 
around,  to  see  if  the  mighty  Hand,  that  has  so 
long  upheld  these  wonders,  is  not  now  visibly 
upon  them ! 

About  the  middle  of  the  State  of  California, 
stands  her  loftiest  mountain.  Mount  Whitney, 
fifteen  thousand  feet  above  the  ocean,  and 
within  seven  hundred  feet  as  high  as  Mont 
Blanc,  in  Switzerland.  Near  this  central  region, 
also,  are  some  of  the  most  remarkable  depres- 
sions, gorges,   canons,   or  valleys    ever  found. 


90  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

About  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  easterly 
from  San  Francisco,  and  about  thirty  miles 
from  the  summit  of  the  snow-covered  Nevada 
Mountains,  four  thousand  and  sixty  feet  above 
the  sea,  is  the  "  Yo-Semite  Valley,"  unlike 
anything  else  you  ever  saw,  and  so  peculiar, 
that  probably  no  attempts  to  make  it  under- 
stood, without  seeing  it,  can  be  successful. 
You  will  see  at  once  that  the  bottom  of  the 
valley  is  five  hundred  feet  higher  than  our 
Greylock.  Other  valleys  you  expect  to  enter 
and  pass  through.  To  get  into  this  you  must 
climb  down  three  thousand  feet,  and  when  you 
have  seen  it,  climb  up  out  of  it  again.  We 
will  suppose  you  have  come  from  the  Big 
Trees,  have  crossed  the  most  curious  ferries 
of  the  Stanislaus  and  Tuolumne  Elvers,  passed 
through  the  Chinese  Camp,  ascended  and  de- 
scended mountains,  till  you  have  come  to 
Harding's  ranch,  where  you  must  take  the 
saddle.      You  will  mount  a  lean,  hard-going. 


YO-SEMITE   VALLEY.  91 

but  most  sure-footed  animal,  and  if  you  can 
fortunately  have  Hutch ings  —  one  of  Nature's 
noblemen  —  for  guide,  you  enter  the  forests, 
ascend  vast  mountains,  go  down  long  ridges, 
gaze  at  m3T:iads  of  the  most  glorious  pines 
the  eye  ever  saw,  pass  over  snow-drifts  on 
the  mountain  for  perhaps  a  couple  of  miles, 
and  which  you  are  ready  to  take  your  oath 
are  at  least  four  miles, — the  trail  sometimes 
plain  and  sometimes  lost,  —  baiting  your  poor 
horse  at  a  little  green  spot  on  the  top  of  the 
mountain,  taking  a  lunch  out  of  Hutchings' 
capacious  saddle-bags,  which  he  took  care  to 
provide  at  Harding's,  —  laughing  as  the  Old 
Bachelor  from  New  York  takes  out  his  little 
flask  of  brandy,  insinuating  that  it  is  very  su- 
perior, and  Hutchings,  wearying  the  poor  flask, 
declaring  that  if  ever  he  "  did  allow  himself  to 
touch  a  drop,  that  was  just  the  very  time." 
So  we  move  on,  seldom  out  of  a  walk,' till, 
at  the  end  of  the  twenty-five  weary  miles'  ride, 


92  THE   SUNSET   LAND. 

we  look  down  from  the  brow  of  the  hill  three 
thousand  feet  hito  a  valley.  You  pause  and 
hold  your  breath.  You  are  looking  down  a 
canon,  whose  opening  at  your  right  hand  is 
only  wide  enough  for  a  fierce,  foaming,  roaring 
river  to  rush  out.  You  are  looking  east. 
The  valley  looks  like  the  opening  made  by  the 
parting  of  the  mountains,  and  you  almost  ex- 
pect to  see  them  snap  together  again.  Far 
up  between  the  rock- walls  on  either  side, 
hangs  a  thin  mist,  as  if  the  falling  waters  had 
hung  the  thinnest  possible  veil  over  the  valley. 
This,  then,  is  the  "Yo-Semite  Valley." 

You  begin  to  descend  the  bridle-path,  so 
steep  that  it  must  be  zigzag,  and  so  fearful  that 
you  must  get  off  and  walk  most  of  the  way, 
—  the  path  now  crossing  a  mountain  torrent, 
and  now  on  the  very  brink  of  a  precipice, 
where  should  you  go  over,  —  and  I  think  a 
foot  out  of  the  way  would  often  do  it, — you 
will   go  fifteen  hundred   or   two  thousand  feet 


rO-SEMITE   VALLEY.  93 

before  stopping.  Add  to  this  —  if  your  expe- 
rience is  like  mine  —  you  have,  in  going  down, 
to  pass  a  great  number  of  the  hideous,  naked, 
horrible  Mono  Indians,  frightening  the  ycry 
horses  you  are  leading. 

In  two  and  a  half  miles  you  have  come  down 
three  thousand  feet,  over  rocks,  and  ledges, 
and  water,  and  where  you  wanted  the  poor 
horses'  legs  insured.  You  are  now  in  the 
valley,  —  eight  miles  long,  and  from  half  to  a 
mile  wide.  Through  it  runs  a  river  seventy 
feet  wide,  pure  and  clear,  and  about  twelve 
feet  deep.  It  is  the  "Merced,"  daughter  of 
the  snows,  and  falling  about  fifty  feet  during 
its  course  in  the  valley. 

Now,  how  can  I  give  you  any  idea  of  what 
we  see?  You  wdll  just  forget  our  valley, 
come  back  to  the  place  where  you  now  sit, 
and  turn  your  face  to  the  East.  Now,  draw 
a  line  at  3^our  rig^t  hand,  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
ofi",  from  east  to  west,  eight  miles  long.     Now, 


94  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

a  quarter  of  a  mile  at  your  left,  draw  another 
line,  of  the  same  length.  Now,  go  a  mile 
north  and  south  of  these  two  lines,  and  draw 
tw<^  more  lines.  You  have  now  three  spaces, 
one,  the  centre,  half  a  mile  wide,  and  the 
outer  spaces  a  mile  wide  each,  and  all,  eight 
miles  long.  Now,  turn  all  this  into  rock,  solid 
rock.  Next,  lift  up  these  two  outside  spaces 
perpendicular,  a  mile  high,  and  also  a  rock, 
at  the  east  end,  equally  high.  You  have  now 
a  basin,  eight  miles  long  and  about  half  a  mile 
wide,  and  a  mile  deep.  Now,  raise  all  the 
country  outside  of  these  walls  as  high  as  they 
are.  Now,  let  this  great,  solid  rocky  basin 
lie  for  ages,  and  slowly  form.  At  the  head 
of  the  basin,  on  the  mountains  around,  snows 
annually  fall  and  melt.  The  waters  wind  and 
wear  a  channel  till  they  find  the  head  of  our 
basin,  and  then  hurl  themselves  down  mto  it. 
On  the  sides  of  this  great*basin  other  rivers 
are  formed,   and  also   push   away  the  barriers 


YO-8EMITE    VALLEY.  95 

and  leap  over.  Then  the  rains  and  the  frosts 
work  with  the  water,  and  wear  away  the  rocks 
on  all  sides  of  our  basin,  till  the  hardest  parts 
arc  left  perpendicular,  or  are  rounded  off  into 
domes,  or  left  standing  up  in  pinnacles,  like 
those  of  a  cathedral. 

In  the  course  of  time,  this  debris  of  the 
rocks  washes  down,  leaving  a  pile  at  their 
base  some  four  hundred  feet  high,  and  making 
a  soil  at  the  bottom  of  the  basin.  The  basin 
is  gradually  filled  up,  the  river  is  raised  up, 
trees  are  sown  and  grow  up ;  and  so,  in  1869, 
we  find  it  the  walled,  beautiful  valley,  whose 
sides  are  all  rock,  averaging  not  less  than  three 
thousand  five  hundred  feet  high, — three  quar- 
ters of  a  mile,  — while  some  of  the  domes 
and  pinnacles  are  much  higher  than  this. 

And  now  comes  the  trial.  There  is  no 
way  by  which  you  can  make  yourself  realize 
the  wonders  on  your  right  hand  and  on  your 
left.     You  are  told  that  if  tliese  rocks  should 


96  THE   SUNSET  LAND. 

fall,  they  would  reach  across  and  cover  the 
valley;  but  you  cannot  realize  it.  You  are 
told  that  if  they  should  fall  at  the  same  mo- 
ment and  meet  in  the  middle,  there  Avould  be 
an  arch  over  your  head  half  a  mile  high ;  but 
you  cannot  realize  it.  There  is  nothing  but 
air  and  the  dome  of  heaven  with  which  to 
make  comparison  or  measurement.  If  you  look 
at  the  trees,  on  an  average  two  hundred  feet 
high,  they  look  like  mere  shrubs.  You  have 
no  measure  by  which  you  can  tell  a  thousand 
feet  from  four  thousand.  This  is  the  only 
disappointment  you  feel,  and  this  you  feel 
bitterly. 

We  are  now  in  the  valley,  just  having  de- 
scended the  mountain,  and  we  are  looking  to- 
wards the  East.  The  river  is  on  our  right,  the 
waters  meeting  us.  We  find  eight  or  ten  high 
summits  on  the  sides,  prominent,  dissimilar,  and 
peculiar.  We  find,  also,  five  or  six  rivers,  or 
streams,  pouring ^own  in  difierent  places,  be- 


YO-SEMITE   VALLEY.  97 

sides  smaller  streams  that  come  down  like  rib- 
bons. It  is  the  first  of  June,  when  the  snows 
are  melting,  the  streams  the  fullest,  and  the 
fiills  the  largest  and  the  grandest  of  any  part 
of  the  year. 

As  you  now  move  east,  the  first  thing  that 
strikes  is  Lung-oo-too-koo-ya  —  "  Tall  and  slen- 
der Fall,"  or  "Kibbon  Fall,"  which  pours,  and 
creeps,  and  rushes  over  the  face  of  rocks  to 
which  it  seems  to  cling,  three  thousand  three 
hundred  feet.  You  look  at  the  ribbon*  on  the 
rock,  and  then  the  brook  you  cross,  and  are 
amazed  at  the  quantity  of  water  that  came 
down  as  that  ribbon.  As  you  go  along  up  the 
valley,  you  see  a  mighty  buttress  rising  up 
on  your  left.  You  are  close  to  it,  and  yet  you 
do  not  reach  it.  That  is  "  Tu-toch-ah-nu-lah," 
"Great  Chief  of  the  Valley,"  — English,  "The 
Captain," — three  thousand  three  hundred  feet 
high ;  top  nearly  flat  and  bare.  You  stand  at 
its  foot  and  look  up,  and  the  last  fifteen  hun- 
7 


98  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

dred  or  two  thousand  feet  are  perpendicular, 
and  you  feel  that  the  great  mass  is  falling  on 
you.  You  gaze  upon  it,  —  so  great,  so  high, 
so  bare,  so  solid  and  hard,  that  you  feel  it 
might  be  the  corner-stone  of  a  world.  Nearly 
opposite,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and 
on  the  south  side,  you  see  the  "  Po-ho-no  "  Falls, 
"  Spirit  of  the  Evil  Wind,"  — English,  "  Bridal 
Veil,"  —  a  sheet  of  water  most  exquisitely  beau- 
tiful, falling  nine  hundred  and  forty  feet,  thun- 
dering stnd  foaming,  waving  and  shooting  out 
great  showers  of  snowy  rockets,  as  it  falls  into 
a  great  caldron,  surrounded  by  huge  bowlders. 
Well  may  it  be  called  the  "Bridal  Veil,"  from 
its  waving,  feathery,  gauze-like  veil,  as  if  try- 
ing to  conceal  the  face  and  form  of  beauty. 
The  stream  is  forty  feet  wide,  and  out  of  the 
mighty  spray  that  rises  upon  the  bowlders  on 
which  it  is  dashed,  the  sun  constantly  weaves 
and  hangs  rainbows  over  the  abyss.  The 
river  that   ends  in   Po-ho-no  Falls,  rises  from 


BRIDAL   VEIL.  99 

a  lake  about  thirteen  miles  off,  and  as  the 
winds  there  draw  around  the  great  rock  that 
rises  out  of  the  lake,  thus  making  it  rough,  and 
having  caused  several  Indians  to  lose  their  lives 
there,  and  as  an  Indian  woman,  in  gathering 
herbs  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  fell  in,  and 
was  carried  over  these  falls,  and  never  seen 
again,  so  the  Indians  have  a  superstitious  dread 
of  them.  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Evil  Wind  "  re- 
sides there ;  and  they  will  never  pitch  their 
camp,  nor  could  they  be  induced  to  sleep, 
within  sound  of  its  waters.  To  point  the -finger 
at  these  falls  is  certain  death  —  as  they  believe. 
They  hear  the  voices  of  those  w^ho  have  been 
drowned  there,  whenever  they  hear  the  sound 
of  these  Falls. 

A  little  to  the  west  of  Po-ho-no,  are* the 
rock^  called  Wah-wah-le-na,  the  "  Three  Graces  " 
—  huge  masses  shooting  up  far  into  the  sky; 
and  still  farther  on,  the  "Cathedral  Spires," 
that   look   not   much   larger  than   men,    albeit 


100  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

they  stand  up  naked  hundreds  of  feet.  Then 
come  the  Great  Cathedral  Kocks,  —  ^'Poo-re- 
nah,"  "large  acorn  cache;"  i.  e.,  "hiding-place 
for  acorns,"  —  looking  like  the  ruined  spires 
of  some  vast  edifice. 

Farther  east  still,  and  you  come  to  Pom- 
pom-pa-sus,  "  Mountains  playing  Leap-frog,"  — 
English,  the  "Three  Brothers,"  —  three  re- 
markable summits,  which  canuot  be  described, 
but  which  will  never  be  forgotten,  if  once  seen. 
Directly  opposite  are  the  "  Three  Sisters," 
graceful  in  beauty. 

You  are  now  in  the  centre  of  the  valley. 
Still  looking  east,  on  your  left  are  the  Yo- 
Semite  Falls,  or  rather  three  falls,  —  the  first 
sixteen  hundred  and  fifty  feet  perpendicular, 
the*  second  four  hundred  and  thirty,  and  the 
third  six  hundred  and  ^fty  feet.  "  Yo-Semite  " 
is  the  Indian  name,  now  given  to  these  Falls, 
and  to  the  Valley.  "  Yo-Semite  "  means  Grizzly 
Bear. 


Directly  opposite  these  falls  is  "Sentinel 
Rock,''  three  thousand  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enty feet  high ;  Indian,  Loya.  It  is  said  that 
a  lady  (I  wish  I  knew  her  name)  once  actually 
climbed  to  the  top  of  Sentinel  Rock,  on  a 
Fourth  of  July,  and  there,  alone,  took  her 
lunch !  Just  at  the  foot  of  that  wonderful 
rock  is  "  Hutchings'  Hotel,"  where  you  stay, 
and  where  you  hear,  day  and  night,  the  roar 
of  the  mighty  waterfall.  You  get  up  at  night 
to  gaze  upon  it.  You  never  weary  of  it.  I 
am  told  that  in  the  winter,  the  spray  from 
these  falls  freezes,  and  piles  up  and  freezes 
again,  till  there  is  a  hollow  pillar  hundreds  of 
feet  high.  Into  that  pillar  the  waters  pour, 
and  bound  up  like   silver  balls., 

In  the  Spring,  there  is  a  moment  when  the 
roar  of  the  cataract  ceases,  and  the  few  people 
rush  to  the  door  to  see  what  the  silence  means. 
Shortly  as  it  appears,  the  floods  have  under- 
mined the  pillar,  and  are  preparing  to  wrench  it 


102^ 


THE   sunset:  LAND. 


from  its  foothold.  It  is  giant  struggling  with 
giant.  The  wrestling  is  not  long ;  for  sud- 
denly the  ice  gives  way,  and  is  tossed  up  high 
in  the  air,  in  ten  thousand  fragments,  to  glisten 
for  a  moment  high  up  in  space,  when  it  falls 
and  is  gone,  and  the  cataract  again  takes  up 
its  loud  song  for  another  j^ear.  This  white 
river  thus  pouring  down,  the  first  leap  nine 
times  the  height  of  Niagara,  seems  to  the  eye 
to  be  about  two  feet  wide  at  the  top ;  but  Mr. 
Hutchings,  who  has  been  on  the  mountain 
over  which  it  leaps,  assures  me  that  it  is  at 
least  forty  feet  wide  at  the  top.  At  the  time 
I  visited  it,  the  river  made  by  it  in  the  valley 
was,  at  the  bridge,  forty  feet  wide  and  seven 
deep ;  but  the  waters  were  abundant  at  that 
time. 

Let  us  pass  on  towards  the  head  of  the 
valley.  Up  near  the  head,  the  valley  forks 
into  two  short  canons,  into  which  the  two 
branches  of  the  Merced  pour,   uniting  just  be- 


VERNAL   FALLS.  103 

low  the  great  bluff  which  seems  to  .be  pusliing 
down  the  valley  between  them,  but  finds  it- 
self arrested  and  chained  down.  We  will  take 
the  right  canon,  following  up  the  great  branch 
of  the  river. 

We  leave  our  horses  and  ascend  the  side 
of  the  very  steep  mountain,  afraid  every  mo- 
ment lest'  the  foot  slip,  and  we  are  pitched 
into  the  boiling,  leaping  river  below.  We 
come  into  the  spray, — the  Pi-iwy-ach  Falls 
(meaning •"  Cataract  of  Diamonds,"  —  English 
"  Yernal  Falls  ") ,  and  are  soon  drenched  to  the 
skin.  Around  us  are  little  rainbows,  hovering 
and  playing  around  our  footsteps,  about  six 
or  eight  feet  in  diameter. 

We  are  now  at  the  foot  of  the  Falls,  and 
are  about  two  thousand  feet  higher  than  the 
lower  end  of  the  valley.  These  glorious  Falls, 
the  largest  of  all  as  respects  quantity  of  water, 
are  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high.  Now 
for   the   top  of  them.      On   the   perpendicular 


104  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

side  of  the  rock,  they  have  built  a  ladder,  the 
sides  of  which'  are  so  near  each  other  that 
only  one  foot  can  stand  on  a  round  between 
the  timbers.  The  ladder  seems  to  hang  in 
the  air,  and  you  wonder  if  your  nerves  will 
hold  out  while  you  ascend.  But  you  climb 
the  slats  and  mount ;  the  wall  being  on  your 
right 'side,  and  space,  and  the  falls;  and  death 
on  your  left.  If  you  are  wise,  you  will  shut 
up  the  left  eye,  and  keep  the  right  eye  tixcd 
on  the  wall.  When  you  get  to  the  top, 
you  breathe  easier,  and  can  now  go  to  the 
very  brink  of  the  precipice,  and  where  your 
feet  touch  the  water,  can  lean  on  a  parapet 
of  rocks,  which  seems  to  have  been  thrown 
there  on  purpose.  You  can  look  straight  down 
the  falls,  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and 
see  the  very  mysteries  of  their  power,  as 
the  waters   plunge    into  the  caldron  below. 

You  may  congratulate  yourself  on  your  grent 
courage,  but  don't  be  too  self-complacent ;  for 


NEVADA   FALLS.  105 

on  returning  to  your  hotel,  a  refined  and  deli- 
cate lady  casuaHy  informs  you  that  she  once 
went  up  those  ladders  alone,  except  her  baby, 
Avhich  she  tucked  under  her  arm  ^ 

AVe  now  go  up  the  river  half  a  mile  farther, 
and  we  come  to  the  Yo-wi-ye,  or  Nevada  Falls, 
seven  hundred  feet ;  and  when  the  waters 
are  full,  as  I  saw  them,  I  unhesitatingly  pro- 
nounce it  the  most  beautiful  water-view  I 
ever  beheld.  It  unites  strength,  power,  and 
majesty  with  every  outline  of  beauty.  It 
seemed  to  quiver  in  its  own  song,  as  it  tossed 
its  myriads  of  diamonds  high  in  the  air, 
shooting  out  masses  of  jewels,  as  the  rocket 
sends  out  its  brilliant  creations  in  the  night. 
I  feel  sure  that  its  equal  for  marvellous  beauty 
cannot  be  found  on  the  face  of  the  globe. 

In  the  left  canon  is  another  fall,  Tu-lool- 
we-ach,  six  hundred  feet,  having  features  and 
beauties,  which,  anywhere  else,  would  be  a 
wonder. 


106  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

There  are  several  more  lofty  "  Summits  "  not 
yet  noticed,  among  which  is  tlie  "  Cap  of  Lib- 
erty," two  thousand  feet  above  the  upper  falls. 
"  Mount  Starr  King,"  and  above  all,  the 
"North"  and  "  South  "  Domes.  The  "North 
Dome,"  To-coy-8e  (Sh'^de  to  Indian  Baby  Bas- 
ket) ,  three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  feet  high.  Before  it  stands  Washington's 
Pillar,  looking  strong,  calm,  and  lofty.  The 
North  Dome  is  round,  smooth,  bare,  and  very 
beautiful.  I  believe  the  foot  of  man  has  been 
on  its  top.  The  South  Dome  is  a  marvel ;  it 
was  once  a  round  dome,  most  plainly  in  the 
shape  of  an  egg,  the  big  end  uppermost.  It 
is  four  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty  feet 
—  nearly  a  mile  —  high.  By  some  convulsion 
^  of  nature,  this  solid  rock  was  cleft  in  two, 
one  half  left  standing  up  almost  perpendicu- 
lar, the  other  half  dashed  down  in  the  canon 
below,  now  covered,  and  buried,  and  lost 
out  of  sight,  but  undoubtedly  damming  up  the 


MIRROR  LAKE.  107 

river,  tind  making  the  little  lake  which  avc  now 
find,  the  pure  waters  of  which  are  Nature's 
mirror,  in  which  these  wonderful  mountains  are 
reflected,  and  reflected  with  a  precision  and  a 
beauty  which  we  cannot  conceive  excelled.  It 
is  called  "  Mirror  Lake,"  and  greatly  admired. 
The  Indian  name  of  this  half  dome  is  "  Tis- 
sa-ach  "  —  Goddess  of  the  Valley. 

Now  take  your  stand  for  a  moment  in  front 
of  this  Goddess  of  the  Valley.  It  is  early  in 
the  morning,  and  a  thin  haze  covers  the  val- 
ley, and  slowly  creeps  up  the  mountain  sides ; 
the  clifts  upon  our  left  are  all  in  deep  shadow, 
the  outline  of  their  summits  cutting  darkly 
and  strongly  against  the  brilliant  light  of  the 
unclouded  sky.  Great  streams  of  sunlight 
come  pouring  through  the  openings  in  the 
clifts,  illuminating  long,  radiating  belts  of 
mists  which  extend  clear  across  the  valley, 
and  are  lost  among  the  confusion  of  rock 
and  foliage  forming  the  debris  on  the  opposite 


108  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

side.  Directly  in  front  of  us,  and  about 
three  miles  distant,  is  Mount  Tis-sa-ach,  the 
highest  mountain  in  the  valley,  as  well  as  the 
boldest  and  most  beautiful  in  outline.  Its 
base  is  shrouded  in  the  hazy  mystery  which 
envelops  everything  in  the  valley.  Numerous 
little  white  clouds,  becoming  detached  from 
the  misty  curtain,  are  sailing  up  the  mountam 
side,  dodging  about  among  the  projecting 
spurs,  intruding  their  beautiful  forms  slowly 
into  the  dark  caverns,  puffed  out. again  in  a 
hurry  by  the  eddying  winds  which  hold  pos- 
session of  these  gloomy  recesses,  and  then 
resume  their  upward  flight,  each  following 
the  other  with  the  precision  and  regularity  of 
a  fleet  of  white-winged  yachts  rounding  a 
stake-boat,  and  each  eaten  up  by  the  sun 
with  astonishing  rapidity,  as  they  sail  slowly 
past  the  angle  of  shadow  cast  across  the  lower 
half  of  the  mountain.  High  above  all  this, 
in  the  clear,  bright  sunshine,  towers  the  lofty 


SOUTH   DOME.  109 

summit,  every  projection  and  indentation, 
weather  and  water  stain,  fern,  vine,  and  lichen, 
so  clearly  defined  that  one  can  almost  seem 
to  touch  its  surface  by  merely  extending  the 
arm."  * 

On  the  crown  of  this  dome  the  foot  of 
man  has  never  been  placed.  Great  efforts 
have  been  made  to  reach  its  summit,  but  hith- 
erto abortive.  And  here  is  the  place  to  intro- 
duce an  Indian  legend,  connecting  Tis-sa-ach 
with  the  great  Tu-toch-ah-nu-lah.  I  think  you 
will  pronounce  it  too  beautiful  to  be  omitted. 

A  long,  long  time  ago,  the  children  of  the 
setting  sun  dwelt  in  the  Yo-Semite  Valley : 
they  had  peace  and  plenty,  and  the  glorious 
Tu-toch-ah-nu-lah,  their  chief,  dwelt  upon  the 
great  rock  that  now  bears  his  name.  One 
glance  of  his  eye  saw  all  that  his  people  below 
were  doing.  Swifter  on  foot  than  the  elk, 
he  herded   the  wild  deer  as  easily  as  if  they 

Tirrel. 


110  THE    SUNSET    LAND. 

were  sheep,  and  gave  his  people  meat.  He 
roused  the  grizzly  bear  from  his  cavern  in  the 
mountains,  and  sent  his  young  men  to  hunt 
him.  From  that  lofty  rock  so  near  heaven, 
the  Great  Spirit  could  easily  hear  his  prayer, 
and  send  rain  upon  the  valley.  The  smoke 
of  his  pipe  curled  up  in  the  sunshine  that 
gladdened  his  tribe.  When  he  laughed,  the 
river  below  rippled  and  smiled  in  sympathy. 
AVhen  he  sighed,  the  pines  caught  up  the  sigh, 
and  repeated  it  from  tree  to  tree.  When  he 
spoke,  the  cataract  hushed  his  voice,  and  lis- 
tened. When  he  whooped  over  the  bear  that 
he  had  slain,  all  the  mountains  echoed  the 
shout  from  summit  to  summit,  till  it  was  lost 
in  the  distance.  His  form  was  straight  like 
the  arrow,  and  elastic  as  the  manzanita  bow. 
His  eye  flashed  like  the  lightning,  and  his  foot 
outstripped  the  wind. 

But  once,  when  hunting,  his  eye  moistened 
at    the   vision    of    a   beautiful    maiden   sitting 


INDIAN   LEGEND.  Ill 

alone  on  the  very  summit  of  the  South  Dome. 
Unlike  the  dark  maidens  of  his  tribe,  her  gold- 
en hair  rolled  over  her  dazzling  form,  as  waters 
of  gold  would  linger  over  silver  rocks.  Her 
brow  was  like  the  moon  hanging  in  a  soft  mist, 
and  her  eyes  gleamed  like  the  far-off  blue 
mountains  bathed  in  sunset.  Her  little  foot 
shone  white  and  bright  as  the  silver  waters 
of  the  Yo-Semite  Falls.  She  had  small  white 
wings  on  her  shoulders,  and  her  voice  was 
like  the  silvery  tones  of  the  night-bird  on  the 
hill-side.  She  softly  pronounced  the  name  of 
"  Tu-toch-ah-nu-lah,"  and  was  gone  out  of 
sight.  Flashing  was  the  eye,  swift  the  foot, 
as  Tu-toch-ah-nu-lah  sprang  from  crag  to  crag, 
leaping  over  gorges  and  across  streams ;  but 
he  only  felt  the  down  of  her  wings  filling  his 
eyes,  and  he  saw  her  no  more.  Every  day 
did  the  young  chief  wander  up  and  down  the 
mountains,  leaving  sweet  acorns  on  her  dome. 
Once  more  his  ear  caught  her    footstep,    light 


112  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

as  the  falling  snow-flake.  Once  more  he 
caught  a  glimpse  of  her  form,  and  saw  a  silver 
beam  fall  from  her  eye.  But  he  had  no  power 
to  speak  to  her,  and  her  voice  was  drowned 
in  the  river  of  silence.  She  was  sittins^  on 
her  dome.  In  his  love  for  the  maiden  he  for- 
got his  people ;  the  valley  became  parched ; 
the  beautiful  flowers  laid  down  their  heads 
and  died ;  the  winds  lost  their  strength,  and 
could  no  longer  fan  the  valley ;  the  waters 
dried  up,  and  the  beaver  came  on  the  dry  land 
to  die.  Tu-toch-ah-nu-lah  saw  nothing  of 
this ;  he  kept  his  eyes  on  the  maiden  of  the 
rock,  and  saw  nothing  else.  Early  one  morn- 
ing, as  she  stood  on  her  dome  and  saw  the 
valley  neglected  and  perishing,  her  soft  eyes 
wept ;  then  kneeling  down,  she  prayed  the 
Great  Spirit  to  pity  the  valley,  and  bring 
again  the  green  grass,  the  green  trees,  and 
sweet  fruits,  and  the  yellow  flowers,  and  espe- 
cially the  beautiful  white  mariposa.     In  a  mo- 


INDIAN   LEGEND.  113 

ment,  the  great  dome  on  which  she  was  kneel- 
ing was  cleft  asunder,  and  fell  down,  down, 
deep  into  the  valley.  At  the  same  time  the 
melting  snows  of  the  Nevada  Mountains  sent 
the  River  of  Mercy  (the  Merced)  down  the 
cliffs  and  through  the  valley,  while  the  fallen 
rock  stopped  the  waters  just  enough  to  make 
the  Mirror  Lake.  All  was  altered  ;  the  waters 
now  murmured ;  the  fish  leaped  up  in  their 
joy ;  the  birds  hastened  back  with  song ;  the 
flowers  sent  out  their  sweets,  and  hung  them 
on  the  wings  of  the  wind ;  the  sap  bounded 
up  to  give  the  tree  new  life,  and  busy  life  was 
everywhere  at  work.  But  in  that  awful  con- 
vulsion which  rent  the  mountain,  the  maiden 
disappeared  forever.  But  the  half  dome  bears 
her  name,  "  Tis-sa-ach,"  forever,  and  the  little 
lake  catches  and  mirrors  her  dome  forever. 
The  morning  and  the  setting  sun  place  their 
rosy  mantle  on  that  dome  every  day,  and  as 
she  flew  away,  the  downy  feathers  from  her 
8 


114  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

wings  fell  on  the  margin  of  the  lake ;  and 
there  you  may  see  them  still,  —  in  the  form 
of  a  thousand  little  white  violets. 

When  Tu-toch-ah-nu-lah  found  that  she  had 
gone  forever,  he  forsook  his  lofty  home,  and 
having  carved  his  head  and  form  on  the  side 
of  his  rock,  a  thousand  feet  above  the  valley, 
that  the  people  of  his  beautiful  valley  might 
never  forget  him,  he  went  in  search  of  his 
lost  one.  On  reaching  the  other  side  of  the 
valley,  loath  to  leave  it,  he  sat  down,  looking 
far  away  towards  the  setting  sun,  where  he 
thought'  she  had  gone ;  and  there  his  grief 
was  so  great  that  he  turned  into  stone,  and 
there  every  visitor  of  the  valley  may  see  him 
still,  looking  off  for  the  loved  and  the  lost ! 
So  the  legend. 

If  any  one  doubts  this  story,  I  can  only 
say,  I  have  seen  the  split  dome,  and  the  lake 
with  white  violets,  the  white  mariposa,  and 
face    of  Tu-toch-ah-nu-lah    on    the    rock   that 


YO-SEMITE   BEAUTY.  115 

bears  his  name,  and  his  form  turned  into  stone, 
sitting  on  the  summit  of  the  opposite  moun- 
tain ! 

In  grandeur,  sublimity,  and  beauty,  the  Yo- 
Semite  Valley  stands  alone.  At  the  upper  end 
there  have  been  shakings  and  rendings,  rocks 
thrown  down  on  either  side,  sometimes  as 
large  as  a  great  church,  as  if  demons  had 
been  breaking  up  and  hurling  the  mountains 
at  each  other.  The  river  dashes  and  bounds 
among  these  fragments,  as  if  frightened  and 
infuriated ;  and  then  half  an  hour's  ride 
brings  you  to  the  oaks,  and  pines,  and  lawns, 
smooth  as  a  garden,  wild  as  nature,  not  show-  7 
ing  the  mark  of  axe,  or  anything  to  alter  this 
park  from  what  it  was  when  the  eye  of  man 
first  looked  into  it. 

Everything  to  eat  or  use  must  be  brought 
over  and  down  these  mountains  on  pack-horses  ; 
and  so  difficult  is  the  carriage,  that  ^ve  different 
cooking  stoves   had  to   be    procured   before   a 


116  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

sound  one,  divided  in  parts,  could  be  brought 
here.  And  here  live  the  educated  and  refined 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hutchings,  the  latter  a  true 
lady,  from  Worcester  County,  Massachusetts. 
Here  they  have  lived  for  five  years ;  never 
at  home  in  California  till  they  found  this  spot, 
where  they  have  been  ever  since,  she  with- 
out going  out,  contented  and  happy.  They 
have  a  well-selected  library  of  about  six  hun- 
dred volumes,  and  for  intelligence,  need  not 
blush  before  any  guest. 

The  only  spot  that  I  have  ever  seen  which 
could  in  any  wise  be  compared  to  it,  is  the 
Lauterbrunnen  Valley,  in  Switzerland.  They 
are  both  of  about  the  same  length  and  breadth  ; 
they  both  have  walls  on  each  side ;  thc}^ 
both  have  waterfalls ;  they  both  have  great 
beauty.  But  here  the  comparison  ends.  The 
Lauterbrunnen  has  one  waterfall,  —  the  Staub- 
bach,  or  "Dust  Brook,"  with  a  leap  of  nine 
hundred  and  twenty-five  feet.     The  Yo-Semite 


YO-SEMITE    AND   LAUTERBRUNEN.  117 

has  half  a  dozen,  two  of  which  are  higher 
than  this,  with  many  times  the  volume  of 
water.  The  Staubbach  empties  itself  in  the 
air,  and  is  turned  into  mist,  and  is  lost  to 
sight  long  before  it  reaches  the  ground.  The 
Pohono,  and  the  Yo-Semite,  and  the  three  upper 
falls  come  thundering  down,  their  column  un- 
diminished, their  force  augmented  every  foot 
they  fall.  And  in  the  Yo-Semite  there  are 
other  falls,  much  greater  in  volume,  if  less  in 
height,  than  even  these. 

In  the  Lauterbrunnen  the  sides  are  cliffs, 
twelve  hundred  or  fifteen  hundred  feet  high,  it 
may  be.  In  the  Yo-Semite  they  rise  three, 
four,  and  four  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  valley.  The  eye 
wearies  by  looking  up,  and  the  mind  staggers 
in  trying  to  take  in  the  vastness  of  the  crea- 
tions before  it. 

Whether  you  stand  still  in  any  part  of  the 
valley,  or  whether  you  stand  amid  the  spray 
of  the  Yo-Semite  or   the  Pohono,    or  beating 


118  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

your  way  up  over  rocks  and  hill,  and  up  the 
ladders,  to  gaze  upon  the  Nevada  Falls,  flowmg 
like  the  mane  of  the  white  horse  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse, you  feel  sure  that  you  are  in  a  strange 
region. 

As  to  the  how,  or  by  what  convulsions  of  na- 
ture, this  marvellous  valley  Avas  created,  I  have 
found  no  theory  that  begins  to  be  satisfactory, 
and  I  shall  not  venture  to  give  my  own,  aware 
that  it   is,  and  can  be,  nothing  but   a   theory. 

Who  should  visit  the  valley?  I  answer,  Ev- 
ery one  who  possibly  can.  No  one  will  ever 
regret  it ;  but  in  order  to  do  it,  I  would  recom- 
mend that  you  take  time  enough ;  that  you 
carry  all  the  health  and  vigor  you  can,  for  both 
will  be  severely  tried.  I  would  recommend  a 
pretty  heavy  purse,  and,  if  jperfectly  conven- 
ient, I  would  recommend  that  you  be  not 
much  over  sixty-eight  years  old.  But  what- 
ever your  fatigue  or  age,  you  will,  most  assur- 
edly, long  to  go  again. 

The   United   States   have    ceded   this  valley 


PONO   INDIANS.  119 

to  the  State  of  California,  on  condition  that 
it  be  forever  kept  as  a  natural  park.  I  am 
glad  of  it,  and  yet  I  have  no  doubt  the  time 
is  near  when  Art  will  be  sent' in  there  to  im- 
prove Nature.  As  it  now  is,  it  is  all  Nature. 
There,  encamped  under  the  trees,  with  no 
other  covering,  I  saw  the  wild  children  of  the 
forest,  the  Pono  Indians ;  their  arms,  bows  and 
arrows  with  fliut  heads ;  their  food,  acorns 
pounded  in  a  rock  hollowed  out  ages  ago  for 
the  same  purpose ;  their  kettles  and  furniture, 
only  willow  baskets ;  their  method  of  cook- 
ing, heating  stones,  and  throwing  them,  when 
heated,  into  the  water  till  it  boils ;  their  orna- 
ments, faces  tattooed  and  painted ;  their  life, 
aimless  and  brutal ;  and  their  enjoyments,  noth- 
ing above  those  of  the  beasts. 

The  great  impression  which  you  receive  on 
visiting  this  valley,   is   that   man  is  small  and 
God  is  great.     We  see  here  the  foot-prints  of  ^ 
his   presence,    and    the    finger-marks     of     his 
power;   but   when  He  was  here,,  wonderful  in 


120  THE   SUNSET   LAND. 

working,  how  He  chiselled  out  this  wonder- 
ful spot !  When  the  first  rush  of  waters  was 
heard,  as  they  leaped  down  into  this  deep 
basin;  when  the  first  sun  peeped  over  the 
rim,  and  hung  the  first  rainbow  over  the  boil- 
ing waters ;  when  the  first  human  eye  saw  it, 
and  the  first  human  step  trod  it,  —  we  do  not 
know.  But  we  know  that  particle  by  particle 
these  solid  rocks  will  crumble  ofi"  and  fall, 
till  that  valley  shall  be  even  with  its  rim, 
should  the  world  continue  long  enough.  But 
we  know  also,  that  when  myriads  of  eyes 
have  gazed  upon  these  marvels,  and  when  the 
highest  peaks  of  earth's  mountains  have  be- 
come a  level  plain,  our  God  will  remain 
the  same,  unaltered,  with  a  wisdom  to  devise 
new  creations,  and  a  power  to  execute  new 
plans,  surrounded  by  a  family  so  advancing  in 
knowledge,  that  they  can  admire  his  works, 
and  so  grown  in  what  is  good,  that  t|iey  can 
adore  and  worship  and  praise  Him  in  notes 
higher  and  purer  than  any  that  are  earthly. 


AGRICULTURE   AND   MINING.  121 


CHAPTER  IV. 

NATURAL   PRODUCTIONS   OF   CALIFORNIA,    INCLUD- 
ING A  VISIT   TO   THE   GEYSERS. 

Were  two  islands  to  be  thrown  up  from  the 
bottom  of  the  ocean,  one  fertile,  abounding  in 
grains,  cattle',  sheep,  green  fields,  and  food  in 
abundance,  for  man  and  for  beast,  —  the  other, 
a  hundred  miles  or  more  from  it,  barren,  tree- 
less, herbless,  and  without  soil,  but  abound- 
ing in  mines  of  silver  and  gold,  very  rich  and 
inexhaustible  —  in  a  few  years  the  cultivated 
island  would  be  rich,  and  the  other  poor ; 
the  one  would  have  a  sober,  staid,  healthy 
popuhition;  the  other,  most  likely,  one  that 
was  uneasy,  excited,  generous,  and  prodigal, 
gambling  and  unscrupulous ;  and  that  be- 
cause we   must,    to    be   prospered,    follow  the 


122  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

great  leadings  and  laws  of  divine  Providence 
in  every  thing;  and  He  has  made  the  soil  to 
be  the  source  of  material  prosperity. 

Everything  in  this  world  that  has  life, 
whether  it  be  animal  or  vegetable,  must  draw 
that  life  from  the  earth.  The  gentle  one,  who 
can  hardly  bear  the  sight  of  the  silk-worm,  is 
proud  to  wear  the  silk  which  that  worm  has 
manufactured  out  of  the  mulberry  leaf.  The 
city  dandy,  who  is  shocked  at  seeing  a  heap 
of  compost,  feels  proud  to  cat  the  mushroom 
that  grows  in  it.  It  is  very  plain  that  man, 
and  the  horse,  the  cow,  the  sheep,  the  insect, 
nay,  the  king  himself,  is  "  served  by  the  field." 
It  is  probable  that  there  is  not  a  fish  in  the 
waters,  nor  a  living  thing  on  the  globe,  that 
lives  not  by  the  soil,  directly  or  indirectly. 

In  the  cold  heights  of  the  Alps,  and  in  the 
colder  regions  of  the  Arctic  seas, —  those  great 
repositories  of  the  ice-glaciers,  —  these  tor- 
rents and   glaciers    are  all   the  time    travelling 


ICEBERGS.  123 

slowly  down  towards  the  sea.  They  grind 
the  mountains  through  which  they  pass,  and 
bring  down  rocks,  and  stones,  and  earth  in 
powder,  and  in  unmeasured  quantities,  and 
shoot  off  into  the  sea,  nnlest^  they  are  dis- 
solved before  they  reach  the  sea.  As  soon  as 
these  glaciers  break  off  and  fall  into  the  sea, 
they  are  called  icebergs,  and  the  matter  they 
brinjr  from  the  far-off  mountains  is  food  for 
fish.  They  come  careering  along,  loaded  with 
rocks  and  earth,  and  flow  (;ff  into  the  Gulf 
Stream,  where  they  melt  and  deposit  their 
load ;  and  there,  where  fur  ages  the  iceberg 
has  found  its  grave,  does  the  insatiable  cod 
find  his  living.  Around  the  mouths  of  our 
rivers,  where  food  is  abundant,  brought  fresh  by 
the  running  waters,  do  the  o^^ster,  the  eel, 
the  clam,  the  duck,  and  the  fish  gather,  and 
make  it  their  home.  Seldom,  indeed,  are  fish 
found  in  the  solitudes  of  the  ocean.  The 
w4iale  goes  among   the  floating  ice,    to  gather 


124  THE    SUNSET    LAND. 

the  little  insects  by  myriads,  for  his  food. 
Thus  from  the  bosom  of  mother  earth,  all 
draw  their  nourishment.  Does  your  table 
groan  with  luxuries?  does  your  coat  keep  you 
warm,  or  make  you  feel  that  you  are  well 
dressed?  does  the  bride  blush  under  her 
gossamer  veil,  or  the  orange  blossoms  in  her 
hair?  does  the  old  bachelor  sit  down  to  his 
real  Havana  cigar  (grown  and  made  in  the 
valley  of  the  Connecticut)  ?  does  the  lover 
of  wines  sip  his  glass?  —  all  must  come  out  of 
the  earth.  Out  of  the  earth  grow  our  clothing, 
our  food,  our  fuel,  our  houses,  the  pen  with 
which  we  write,  the  paper  on  which  we  write, 
and  everything  we  use.  Nature  finds  materials, 
and  it  is  for  man  to  take  and  improve  them. 
We  do  not  know  at  this  day  what  the  wheat,  the 
oat,  the  rice,  the  apple,  the  onion,  the  potato,  or 
the  domestic  fowl  were,  in  their  wild  state.  The 
wild  sheep  of  the  mountains,  and  the  merino 
and  south-downs,  seem  very  little  related.     If 


CAPACITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,        125 

the  Baltimore  Oriole  can  gather  straws,  hair, 
wool,  and, the  waste  thrums  of  the  factory,  and 
build  her  curious  hanging  house,  —  if  the  little 
coral  insect  can  take  the  alumen  which  comes 
from  the  Amazon,  and  the  lime  which  comes 
from  the  waters  of  the  Missouri,  and  the  col- 
oring matter  which  comes  from  the  Nile,  and 
with  these  build  her  crimson,  coral  reefs,  and 
build  islands  in  the  ocean,  —  are  we  to  wonder 
that  man  can  turn  the  coarse  ore  of  the  pit 
into  the  hair-spring  of  the  watch,  or  be  able 
to  take  Nature  in  her  wild  state,  and  turn  her  vN 
wastes  into  gardens  of  beauty? 

The  question  as  to  what  population  a  coun- 
try can  feed  and  clothe,  as  to  what  are  her 
capabilities  of  soil  and  climate,  and  not  what 
her  mines  will  yield,  is  by  far  the  most  impor- 
tant question  you  can  ask.  It  is  of  little  con- 
sequence what  a  State  is  to-day,  in  compari- 
son with  the  question.  What  is  she  to  become? 

In   regard   to     California,    her    produce    of 


-%. 


126  ,      THE    SUNSET   LAXD. 

to-day,  either  from  soil  or  mines,  in  bushels, 
in  tons,  or  in  dollars,  is  of  very  little  conse- 
quence, except  as  they  bear  on  the  future, 
and  as  they  are  an  indication  of  what  the 
plans  of  God  are  in  the  future,  in  regard  to 
that  territory. 

We  have  no  other  State  or  section  which 
as  so  great  a  variety  of  soil  and  climate  as 
California,  and  no  State  which  can  yield  such 
a  variety  of  products.  All  that  can  be  raised 
in  the  temperate  zone,  or  in  the  semi-tropi- 
cal climate,  will  grow  here  in  the  greatest 
profusion.  The  soil  and  climate  are  such  that 
the  same  amount  .  of  labor  will  yield  more 
than  anywhere  else,  and  of  a  quality  unsur- 
passed. Instead  of  planting  your  seed  and 
waiting  years  before  you  can  eat  your  apple 
or  your  pear,  you  may  feel  sure  of  a  good 
crop  the  third  year.  The  rapidity  of  growth 
wall  astonish  you,  and  not  less,  the  early  day 
at  which  you  get  returns.     I  saw  in  Oakland, 


WONDEllFUL   FERTILITY.  127 

in  the  garden  of  Mr.  Hunt,  formerly  of 
Springfield,  a  large  area  of  dwarf  apple  trees, 
none  of  which  were  much  over  two  feet  high, 
literally  loaded  wuth  fruit,  and  off  which  his 
son  assured  me,  that  in  the  second  year,  they 
gathered  apples  which  weighed  twenty  ounces 
each ;  and  I  saw,  also,  a  limb  of  a  fig  tree, 
which  he  said  he  cut  off  the  last  fall  and  stuck 
into  the  ground,  and  which,  this  summer,  is 
bearing  figs.  In  the  same  garden  is  a  century 
plant,  whose  stem  w^as  as  large  as  a  man's 
leg,  and  then,  when  I  saw  it,  twenty-one  feet 
high.  It  had  grown  fourteen  feet  in  seven 
weeks.  He  predicted  it  would  grow  twenty 
feet  more,  and  then  blossom.  How  amazed 
we  should  be  to  see  beets  that  wdll  weiffh  a 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  pounds  each,  onions 
a  foot  across  the  top,  cabbages  weighing  eighty 
pounds  each,  and  other  vegetables  in  propor- 
tion !  The  great  trouble  there  about  fruit  is, 
that,  it  is  so  easily  raised,   it  has  no  market. 


128  THE   SUNSET    LAND. 

The  first  steamboat  we  entered  on  the  Sac- 
ramento River  had  twelve  tons  of  sahnon, 
caught  that  day,  and  which  she  was  carrying, 
as  her  daily  allowance,  to  the  city  of  San  Fran- 
cisco :  fthe  fish  T^^^ij^  weiglji^  twenty  pound^^ ) 
each,  ana  they  y^Q  rj^tixkag  ^  six  cents, 
the  pound,  but  (ft^  often \/^^^^|>|>j*g^*'^  twenty-/ 


five  or  thirty  cents,  the  whole  fish.  "^The  cars 
that  come  up  from  the  Santa  Clara  valley, 
bring  twelve  tons  of  strawberries  daily ;  and 
this  fruit  is  in  market  every  month  in  the 
year.  The  potato  will  yield  at  least  two 
aiijHKj^  crops ;  and  such  huge  potatoes  !  You 
can  hardly  persuade  yourself  that  they  were 
not  at  least  four  years  in  growing;  the  fig 
tree  yields  three  crops.  The  long,  dry  sum- 
mer allows  the  farmer  to  take  his  own  time 
to  harvest  his  wheat  and  his  barley,  and  to  let 
them  lie  in  the  field  as  long  as  he  chooses. 
The  mildness  of  the  climate  saves  him  the 
necessity   of    building   barns     or   raising   hay. 


DRYNESS    OF   THE    CLIMATE.  129 

He  harvests  his  grains  in  the  latter  part  of 
May,  or  the  beginning  of  June;  and  one -pecu- 
liarity is,  that  the  dryness  of  the  atmosphere 
causes  the  capsule  of  the  wheat  to  contract 
and  hold  in  the  great  plump  kernel  of  wheat, 
or  else  there  would  be  a  great  loss.  The 
very  thing  which  would  shell  out  our  wheat 
here,  retains  it  there ;  so  that,  if  your  wheat 
stands  uncut  for  two  months  after  it  is  ripe, 
you  sustain  no  loss.  So  you  thresh  it  and 
put  it  into  sacks  in  the  field,  and  let  it  lie 
till  convenient  to  carry  it  to  market.  \ 

You  know  how,  in  our  climate,  immediately- 
after  a  shower,  the  sun  often  pours  down  upon 
us,  with  a  heat  almost  insupportable.  The 
reason  is,  the  air  is  full  of  moisture.  But  in 
the  valleys  of  California,  where  there  is  no 
rain  or  moisture,  though  the  thermometer 
stands  high,  yet  the  heat  causes  no  suffering 
—  scarcely  inconvenience.  Another  thing  to 
be  mentioned  is  the  very  superior  quality  of 
9 


130  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

the  wheat  that  arrows  there.  There  is  nothin<2: 
like  it  known  in  the  world.  They  claim,  too, 
that  ;k|^  great  number  of  liflisr^jtiyo^6>*X  birds, 
such  as  the  beautiful  valley-quail,  protected 
by   law,    keep   down   the    insect   world.  /  And 

the    very   dryness  of  the   wheat,  almost   as  if  j 

I 

kflri^(^j49^»  preserves  the  berry  well  for  expor-  | 
tation,    and    defends    it   from  the   weevil   and 
other  insects. 

The  average  .bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre, 
throufifh  the-  State,  is  less  than  it  should  be, 
from  the  fact,  that  it  has  been  the  fashion, 
after  the  fii-st  ploughing,  which  gives  forty  or 
fifty  bushels  to  the  acre,  just  to  brush  over 
the  stubble,  in  the  fall,  with  a  bush-harrow, 
and  trust  that  enough  seed  has  been  dropped 
to  insure  a  crop.  The  ground  was  not  prob- 
ably moved  an  inch  deep,  and  yet  the  second 
crop  would  be  from  twenty  to  twenty-five 
bushels  to  the  acre.  And  so  the  third  year, 
the  crop  would  be  from  twelve  to  fifteen  bush- 


RAISING    WHEAT.  131 

els.  This  system  is  exhaustive  of  the  soil, 
and  suicidal  of  the  future ;  and  this  accounts 
for  the  low  average  per  acre.  They  have  been 
in  the  habit,  too,  of  just  clipping  off  the  heads 
of  the  wheat  and  barley  by  a  peculiar  reaper, 
and  then  burning  the  stubble  in  the  field. 
They  are  beginning  to  learn  that  this  is  poor 
economy,  and  are  now  ploughing  in  their 
stubble. 

The  annual  produce  of  wheat,  now,  is  about 
twenty  million  of  bushels,  and  about  half  that 
amount  in  barley.  This  often  yields,  by  the 
large  field,  eighty  and  even  one  hundred  bush- 
els to  the  acre.  It  is  used  chiefly  for  feed; 
for  though  Indian  corn  can  be  raised  to  great 
advantage,  they  find  the  barley  better  feed 
in  their  climate,  and  much  more  easily  raised. 
Of  oats  they  raise  two  millions  of  bushels,  of 
superior  quality  ;  but  this  is  not  a  favorite 
crop. 

To   show  you   on  what   a   scale  things  may 


132  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

be  and  are  done  by  our  friends  there,  I  would 
state,  that  Mr.  Jones,  on  his  ranch,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Stockton,  in  San  Joaquin  val- 
ley, has,  this  year,  sixteen  thousand  acres  of 
wheat;  to  prepare  the  ground  for  which,  he 
had  nine  hundred  horses  ploughing  at  the  same 
time;  thus,  calling  his  yield  but  half  a  crop,  he 
will  have  three  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
bushels  of  wheat,  and  that  the  cost  of  the  sacks 
to  put  it  in  will  be  thirty  thousand  dollars : 
that  a  Mr.  Hathaway  raised  twenty-one  tons 
of  beets  on  an  acre,  among  which  was  one  beet 
that  weighed  one  hundred  and  seven  pounds : 
that  the  same  gentleman  also  gathered  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-two  bushels  of  oats  from  an 
acre :  that  General  Bid  well,  in  one  year,  raised 
thii-ty  thousand  acres  of  grain. 
"  We  found  one  ranch,  ten  miles  by  thirty  in 
extent,  or  nineteen  thousand  two  hundred 
acres ;  also  another,  the  owner  of  which  has 
one    hundred  thousand   head  of  cattle,  to  say 


GREAT   RANCHES.  133 

nothing  about  sheep.  He  numbers  only  ten 
thousand  calves  this  spring.  He  delivers  by- 
contract  twenty  thousand  head  of  cattle  at  San 
Francisco  this  season,  at  thirty  dollars  a  head, 
yielding  him  the  pretty  sum  of  six  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  Probably  these  are  not  the 
largest  ranches.  J  Two  men  in  San  Francisco 
own  eight  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land, 
which  they  wisely  intend  to  break  up  into 
small  farms.  These  great  ranches  and  these 
monstrous  herds  of  cattle  are  a  nightmare 
upon  the  prosperity  of  a  country.  It  can  be 
prospered,  in  the  long  run,  only  by  having 
small  farms.  There  should  be  no  great,  over- 
grown estates.  Every  farmer  should  own  his 
farm.  He  is  then  at  the  head  of  a  little  king- 
dom, and  has  every  inducement  to  manage 
it  well  and  make  it  beautiful.  Then,  every 
meadow  reclaimed,  every  hill  made  fruitful,  and  ^ 
every  conquest  over  Nature  is  a  benefit  to 
himself.      The  owning  the   soil  in   fee   simple 


134  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

is  what  has  done  much  for  the  development 
of  soil  and  of  character  in  New  England,  and 
it  is  an  essential  element  of  permanent  pros- 
perity. 

Another  production  for  which  California  is 
peculiarly  adapted,  is  the  7^op.  The  climate 
and  soil  of  her  valleys  prevent  loss  by  blight, 
insects,  or  winds.  So  far  the  yield,  on  the 
average,  has  amounted  to  two  thousand  pounds 
to  the  acre,  while  even  four  thousand  have 
been  gathered.  They  have  a  method  of  drying, 
which  prevents  the  breaking  of  the  blossom, 
by  which  the  lupuline,  or  heavier  and  most 
valuable  part  of  the  hop,  has  hitherto  been 
mostly  lost.  The  quality,  therefore,  ranks 
high,  and  will  be  an  article  of  large  export. 

Wool  is  becoming  a  mighty  production  in 
California.  There  are  two  gentlemen  in  Santa 
Barbara,  —  an  old  Spanish  mission  three  hun- 
dred miles  down  on  the  coast  from  San  Fran- 
cisco, —  w^ho  own  two  hundred  thousand  sheep, 


WOOL-RAISING.  135 

producing  nearly  one  and  a  quarter  million  of 
pounds  of  wool.  The  estate  of  these  gentle- 
men is  twelve  miles  square.  Another  gentle- 
man owns  an  island  thirty  miles  long  and 
twenty  wide,  stocked  with  ten  thousand  head 
of  cattle,  and  fifty  thousand  sheep,  while  the 
hogs  have  so  multiplied  that  they  are  consid- 
ered a  nuisance,  and  a  war  of  extermination 
is  waged  against  them.  The  natural  increase 
of  sheep  through  the  State  is  full  one  hundred 
per  cent.,  and  seventy-five  after  deducting 
all  that  are  used  for  food.  Some  flocks  have 
yielded  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  per  cent, 
increase. 

The  Cotswold  breed  is  the  one  usually  pre- 
ferred. The  last  year  yielded  thirteen  million 
of  pounds,  at  seventeen  cents  in  gold,  and 
wool  of  a  finer  quality  need  not  be  desired. 
They  shear  by  machinery,  much  to  the  comfort 
of  the  animal,  and  to  the  expedition  of  the 
process.     Though  we   saw   vast  flocka  on   the 


136  THE   SUNSET  LAND. 

foot-hills  and  mountains,  yet  the  lower  part  of 
the  State  seems  to  be  the  favorite  place  for 
raising  the  sheep.  The  flock  is  sheared  twice 
a  year,  though  I  am  told  the  second  crop  is 
not  so  convenient  for  the  manufacturer. 

The  soil  and  climate  are  also  so  admirably 
adapted  to  the  raising  of  silk,  that  I  shall  be 
greatly  disappointed  if  this  does  not  become 
an  extensive  and  profitable  business.  The 
large  Japan  variety  of  worm  has  been  intro- 
duced, and  cocoons  of  a  mammoth  size  are  the 
result.  They  have  nearly  twelve  hundred 
thousand  mulberry  trees  already  growing,  and 
the  past  year  yielded  thirteen  hundred  thou- 
sand cocoons,  eight  hundred  ounces  of  eggs,  at 
four  dollars  the  ounce,  were  exported,  the  last 
year,  to  France  and  Italy.  The  Japanese  are 
coming  in  colonies,  having  purchased  great 
tracts  of  land  for  the  purpose  of  cultivating 
silk ;  and  they,  probably,  are  the  most  skilful 
raisers  of   silk  in    the    world;    so  that,  in  all 


THE   VINE   AND    WINE   QUESTION.  137 

probability,  this  is  soon  to  become  a  great 
business.  They  also  propose  to  add  the  culti- 
vation of  the  tea-plant  to  that  of  the  mulbeny. 

Now  comes  the  question  of  the  vine  and 
the  wine.  Whether  wine  will  increase  or  de- 
crease the  amount  of  intoxication, — and  I  am 
very  sure  it  will  increase  it,  or,  at  least,  the 
temptation  to  it,  —  yet  it  is  a  fixed  fact  that 
more  wine  is  now  raised  in  California,  than 
in  all  the  rest  of  the  United  States.  When 
inquired  of,  if  I  saw  much  drunkenness  in  Cal- 
ifornia, I  used  to  say  I  saw  no  drunkenness, 
but  I  saw  a  great  deal  of  hard  drinking,  and 
driuking-places  were  so  abundant,  that  it  seemed 
as  if  they  must  be  one  of  life's  essentials. 

There  is  not  a  variety  of  grape  known  on 
the  face  of  the  earth,  which  will  not  gi'ow  in 
perfection  here.  Over  the  gold  belt,  thirty 
or  forty  miles  wide,  running  the  whole  length 
of  the  State,  the  soil,  being  volcanic,  exactly 
meets  the  wants  of  the  vine.     The  wine-raising 


138  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

regions,  properly  speaking,  are  three,  —  Lower 
California,  four  or  five  counties,  where  the 
grape  is  not  pressed  till  fully  ripe,  and  which 
produces  a  wine  with  little  flavor,  highly 
charged  with  alcohol,  and  heady.  A  great 
portion  of  the  brandies  distilled  in  California, 
are  from  the  Los  An  oleics  reofion. 

The  next  region  of  wine  is  the  west  Coast 
Range,  in  the  valleys  made  by  these  moun- 
tains, among  which  Sonoma  valley  is  most 
noted.  Here  the  vineyards  are  very  large,  — 
one  of  which  contains  ^ve  thousand  acres,  and 
here  the  most  capital  is  invested.  These  are 
nearer  the  European  wines,  and  are  in  great 
favor. 

The  third  region  is  the  foot-hills  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada.  Here,  probably,  the  grape 
reaches  its  higjiest  perfection;  and  here,  too, 
they  have  already  learned  to  make  the  raisin, 
equal,  it  is  said,  to  any  that  can  be  imported. 
There   are    in   the    State   not   far   from   thirty 


WINES   AND   BRANDIES.  139 

millions  of  vinos  already  growing,  producing 
annually  nearly  seven  millions  of  gallons  of 
wine,  and  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
gallons  of  brandy.  The  increase  of  vines  is 
about  three  millions  a  year.  However  much 
we  may  regret  the  abuse  of  the  vine,  from  the 
days  of  Noah  to  the  present  hour,  the  fact 
seems  to  be  a  fixed  one,  that  the  vine  will 
accompany  civilization,  and  we  must  meet  it 
as  well  as  we  can  —  consider  it  one  of  the 
trials  of  our  moral  strength,  one  of  the  temp- 
tations we  must  meet,  and  to  which  no  man 
is  obliged  to  yield  unless  he  chooses.  Rice- 
land  exists  in  abundance,  but  it  has  not  yet 
been   cultivated. 

From  what  has  been  said,  you  cannot  doubt 
that  California  is  to  be,  at  some  future  time, 
like  the  garden  of  the  Lord.  There  are  sixty- 
five  millions  of  acres  of  land  that  can  be  culti- 
vated and  made  most  productive ;  while  there 
are  thirty-three  or  thirty-four  millions  of  acres, 


140  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

—  about  one  third  of  the  whole  State,  — which 
is  too  mountainous  to  be  cultivated. 

There  are  only  a  little  over  four  hundred 
thousand  people  there  yet,  to  occupy  it,  and 
nearly  half  of  these  are  in  the  city  of  San 
Francisco.  Only  seven  per  cent,  of  the  land 
is  yet  fenced  in  at  all,  and  not  over  three 
per  cent,  is  cultivated.  When  the  ninety-seven 
parts  remaining  shall  be  cultivated,  what  may 
it  not  produce?  A  short  time  since  it  was 
thought  that  wheat  would  grow  only  in  the 
rich  valleys.  But  over  the  hills,  and  far  up 
too,  grows  a  little  bush,  called  the  "  Tar 
Bush,'*  with  a  beautiful  leaf;  but  it  sticks  to 
and  defiles  whatever  touches  it.  Hence  its 
name.  But  it  is  found  that  wherever  the  "  tar- 
bush"  grows,  the  soil  is  suitable  for  wheat. 

Eastern  mind,  and  skill,  and  perseverance, 
will  meet  ample  reward.  My  travelling  com- 
panion met  a  Massachusetts  gentleman,  who, 
seven  years  ago,  bought  his  lands  for  one  dollar 


ALASKA.  141 

per  acre,  and  last  year  produced  twenty  thou- 
sand gallons  of  wine,  two  hundred  thousand  co- 
coons, has  fifty  thousand  vines,  and  a  garden 
filled  with  all  kinds  of  fruits.  Lower  California 
has  a  climate  that  never  freezes,  and  the  ther- 
mometer seldom  rises,  even  in  summer,  higher 
than  65"  or  70°.  I  know  of  no  climate  in  the 
world  more  beautiful,  and  no  region  so  invit- 
ing to  enterprise  as  that. 

The  coast  of  Alaska,  fifteen  hundred  miles 
distant,  is  to  furnish  all  California  with  abun- 
dance of  cod,  furs,  and  ice,  for  every  family 
who  wish  it.  I  am  believing,  too,  that  a 
new  stimulus  to  industry  will  be  given  when 
it  is  known  by  trial  that  their  delicious  fruits 
—  the  cherry,  the  peach,  the  pear,  and  the 
grape,  can  be  brought  eastward,  and  in  un- 
measured demand  all  along  the  railroad,  and 
still  more  in  all  New  England.  Any  fruits  that 
will  bear  six  or  eight  days'  travel  will  come, 
to   the   benefit   of  the   valleys  of  the    Golden 


142  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

State,  and  to  the  intense  delight  of  ourselves 
and   our   children. 

The  rapidity  with  which  manufactories  have 
arisen  and  multiplied  in  California  is  probably 
without  a  parallel  in  a  new  State.  The  pecu- 
liarities of  her  situation  brought  many  of  the 
most  intelligent  men  to  her  shores.  These 
had  been  accustomed  to  comforts  and  luxuries, 
and  those  they  must  have.  At  first  they  had 
to  import  even  their  lime  and  brick,  and  indeed 
everything  except  meat.  Soon  they  found  the 
necessity  of  tools  and  mining  machinery,  and 
then  of  steam  engines  and  steamships.  These 
they  sought  for  first :  then,  as  their  steamships 
had  to  travel  seventy  thousand  miles  each 
during  a  year,  it  was  found  that  they  must  have 
new  copper  sheathing  every  year.  This  led 
them  to  build  a  dry  dock,  probably  inferior 
to  none  in  the  world,  where  the  huge  ship 
can  be  floated  into  her  bed  in  a  few  minutes ; 
where  the  monster  engine  can  pum^  out  eighty- 


COMMERCE.  AND  MANUFACTURES.     143 

four  thousand  gallons  of  water  a  minute,  and 
exhaust  the  dock  in  two  hours ;  where  in  three 
days  she  can  be  re-covered,  at  a  dock-rent  oT 
three  thousand  dollars  a  day.  These  two 
docks,  one  floating,  and  the  other  stone,  are 
four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  wide,  and  thirty-one  deep. 
No  visitor  at  San  Francisco  should  fail  to  see 
them. 

At  first,  nobody  expected  to  stay  in  Califor- 
nia only  long  enough  to  obtain  gold;  nobody 
thought  the  soil  capable  of  producing  any- 
thing. So  that  it  was  not  till  about  eleven 
years  ago  that  men  felt  safe  to  go  into  manu- 
facturing :  and  so  much  afraid  were  they  of 
dishonesty  in  companies,  that  it  is  said  two 
thirds  of  all  the  manufacturing  done  in  the 
State  is  done  by  less  than  one  hundred  own- 
ers.  I  The  nearness  to  China  and  Japan  has 
done  much  to  stimulate  machine-shops  and 
mills  for  rolling  iron.     At  the  time  when  the 


144  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

commerce  of  the  world  is  increasing  beyond 
all  precedent,  God  is  opening  new  sources  of 
industry.  Ship  timber  is  becoming  scarce  on 
the  Atlantic  coast ;  but  go  north  of  California, 
and  there  is  Puget  Sound,  unequalled  for  thn- 
ber,  where  ships  can  be  built  better,  and 
stronger,  and  cheaper  than  anywhere  else  in 
our  country,  or  in  the  world ;  and  where,  not 
unlikely,  within  a  very  short  time,  the  ship- 
building of  this  continent  will  be  transferred 
and  carried  on,  and  whence,  every  ship,  for 
any  part  of  the  world,  can  start  loaded  with 
lumber. 

\Still  nearer  California  are  the  iron  mines  of 
the  Willamet,  in  Oregon,  besides  iron,  copper, 
manganese,  and  plumbago  mines,  in  different 
parts  of  California  —  inexhaustible  in  extent : 
and  there  is  half-civilized  China,  just  beginning 
to  rub  her  eyes  open,  which  will  want  a  vast 
amount  of  steam  shipping  on  her  great  inter- 
nal  waters ;  I  and   then   the   enormous   amount 


INCREASING   MANUFACTURES.  145 

of  iron  railing  for  roads  already  built  and 
constantly  wearing  out,  and  for  the  almost 
interminable  lines  yet  to  be  built  as  a  necessity, 
—  all  this  must  make  a  demand  for  iron  manu- 
facturing, to  an  extent  almost  unheard  of  before 
in  our  country.  The  carrying-trade  in  lumber 
and  grain  from  the  Pacific  coast  is  yet  in  its 
infancy ;  but  I  feel  safe  in  predicting  that  in  a 
very  short  time  it  will  be  so  great  as  to  bafile 
all  our  present  calculations.  ^ -^Already  they 
have  lead  and  shot  works,  and  the  bells  cast 
in  San  Francisco  are  heard  ringing  all  over 
the  State,  and  their  gongs  are  screaming  in 
China.  You  would  tire  and  wonder  to  be  led 
through  the  mills  where  industry  and  skill  arc 
creating  such  a  hum  —  in  the  works  in  broom- 
corn  of  the  first  quality,  in  the  chemical  works 
where  they  themselves  have  no  conception  of 
what  they  will  yet  be  called  to  do,  in  the  jew- 
elry manufactories,  w^herc  they  astonish  you  by 
the  quantity  and  richness  of  their  productions, 
10 


146  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

in  the  manufacturing  of  leather,  boots,  shoes, 
hose,  saddles,  and  harnesses,  even  to  the  mak- 
ing of  organs  and  musical  instruments,  —  you 
see  the  foundations  of  future  success  already 
laid.  The  manufacturing  of  flour,  of  the  very 
best  quality,  has  already  been  felt  over  the 
world.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  ease  with 
which  barley  is  raised,  and  its  superior  quality, 
have  erected  a  brewery  in  almost  every  town 
through  the  State ;  but  of  the  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  barrels  of  ale  brewed  the 
last  year,  very  little  found  its  way  beyond 
their  own  boundaries.  It  will,  however,  prob- 
ably very  soon  be  an  article  of  export.  The 
nearness  to  China  brings  in  an  immense  amount 
of  sugar  in  its  crude  state ;  this  has  necessi- 
tated the  business  of  sugar  refining,  and  their 
works  are  very  perfect  and  large  in  extent. 
If  they  can  raise  the  sugar-beet  to  the  almost 
incredible  weight  already  attained,  I  see  not 
why  they  cannot  make  sugar  enough  from  that 
root  to  supply  the  Mississippi  Valley. 


WOOLLEN   MANUFACTURES.  147 

Our  woollen  manufacturers  will  expect  mc  to 
say  something  about  that  branch.  Hitherto 
these  factories  have  had  to  depend  on  steam 
as  the  motive  power ;  but  when  railroads 
shall  be  opened  up  to  the  Stanislaus,  the  Tuo- 
lumne, or  the  Merced  Rivers,  one  of  which 
is  alread}'  begun  frofh  Stockton  to  Copperopolis, 
.there  will  be  a  water-power  enough  to  create 
scores  of  Lowells,  ufn  San  Francisco  there 
are  thirty-nine  sets  of  machineiy  in  operation. 
The  Pioneer  and  the  Mission  mills  operate  thir- 
ty-one sets,  one  "hundred  and  twenty  broad 
looms,  and  about  five  hundred  hands.  They 
consume  two  million  pounds  of  wool  annu- 
ally, make  eighty  thousand  blankets,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  thousand  yards  of  broad- 
cloth, fifty  thousand  yards  of  three  quarter 
flannel :  whole  value  one  million  of  dollars 
in  gold.  Chinese  labor  —  none  better  —  one 
dollar  per  day;  ! foreman,  from  four  dollars 
fifty  cents  to  five  dollars  ;  cost  of  fuel  and  water 


148  THE    SUNSET   LAND.       . 

rents  in  both  mills,  forty-seven  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  other  mills  in  the  State  use  one 
million  of  pounds  additional  annually.  Add 
to  all  this,  gold,  not  less  than  twenty-five 
millions  dollars ;  silver,  still  more ;  so  that  the 
shipments  of  gold  and  bullion  amount  to  not 
less  than  a  million  a  weAi  the  year  round. 
Merchandise  exported,  nearly  twenty-two  mil- 
lions dollars,  viz.  :  wheat,  ten  millions  six 
hundred  and  thirty-six  thousand  dollars ;  wine, 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  wool,  two 
millions  three  hundred  and  seventy-eight  thou- 
sand dollars ;  hides,  three  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  thousand  dollars ;  leather,  two  hundred 
and  sixty-eight  thousand  dollars ;  furs,  most- 
ly from  Alaska,  a  little  short  of  one  million 
dollars  ;  quicksilver,  besides  what  is  used  in  the 
mines,  about  the  same  amount  —  one  million. 
There  is  another  branch  of  business  to 
which  I  have  barely  made  allusion.  Let  u^ 
now  make  a   little    excursion.      We   take   the 


Foss.  149 

steamboat  at  the  city,  pass  over  the  bay, 
enter  the  Saji  Puebla  Bay,  take  the  cars,  and 
go  up  the  incomparably  beautiful  Napa  Valley. 
You  stop  at  Calistoga,  where  are  hot  springs, 
boiling  hot  if  you  want,  and  sulphur  springs 
to  your  heart's  content.  An  early  ride  the 
next  morning,  of  about  twenty  miles,  brings 
you  to  the  foot  of  a  great  mountain,  over 
which  you  are  to  ride.  This  is  called  "Foss' 
Station,"  where  you  eat  the  best  brealdast  in 
California,  because  the  morning  ride  has  given 
you  an  appetite.  "Foss"  is  an  institution 
himself  —  a  huge,  well-proportioned,  unedu- 
cated New  Hampshire  man,  endowed  with 
qualities  which  in  any  condition  would  make 
him  a  marked  man ;  and  you  look  at  his 
brawny  arms  and  powerful  body  almost  with 
envy.  But  he  has  his  six-horse  team  harnessed 
to  an  open  wagon,  and  you  are  now  off  for 
the  Geysers.  You  ascend  a  mountain  five 
thousand  feet   high,    up   which   you  wind   and 


150  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

creep,  till  you  come  to  a  ridge  about  two 
miles  long,  and  so  straight  that  jou  can  see 
the  road  two  miles  ahead.  It  is  just  possibly 
wide  enough  to  let  the  wagon  run  on  its  edge, 
though  to  look  at  it  in  front,  it  looks  as  if  you 
were  to  ride  on  the  edge  of  a  rusty  case- 
knife.  Down  upon  this  ridge  the  horses  dash, 
and  you  see,  if  the  wheels  should  vary  a  foot 
either  side,  you  would  roll  down  into  a  gulf 
that  makes  you  quiver  to  look  at.  But  over 
it  you  pass ;  and  now  you  are  to  go  down  the 
mountain  into  the  canon  below.  You  are  to 
descend  one  thousand  nine  hundred  feet  in 
two  miles.  You  tremble  for  the  Pittsfield  lady 
sitting  calmly  by  the  side  of  Foss,  where  she 
sees  every  danger,  and  shows  no  other  ef- 
fect of  the  strange  situation  than  the  bright- 
ening of  the  eye.  Crack  goes  the  whip,  and 
the  trained  horses  dash  down  upon  the  quick- 
est gait  horses  ever  did  go,  and  after  making 
thirty-five  short  turns,  a  failure  at  any  one  of 


THE   GEYSERS.  151 

which  would  break  your  limbs,  if  not  your 
neck,  you  are  at  the  bottom  —  just  eleven  min- 
utes in  coming  down,  holding  your  breath, 
throbbing  Avith  excitement,  glad  you  have  taken 
the  awful  leap  once,  and  feeling  very  sure 
that  whoever  takes  it  hereafter  must  be  a 
fool  I 

You  are  now  in  a  deep  canon,  on  every 
side  of  which  the  beautiful  mountains  rise  up 
three  thousand  feet  or  more.  Nothing  can 
exceed  their  beauty.  A  large  trout  brook  runs 
through  the  canon,  stony,  but  the  water  is 
clear,  cold,  and  beautiful.  You  go  down  and 
cross  this  brook  at  right  angles,  just  where, 
out  of  another  canon  at  right  angles  to  this, 
you  see  another  little  brook  meeting  you.  On 
either  side  of  it  the  mountains  rise  high  and 
steep.  The  bed  of  this  canon  and  along  this 
little  brook  is  the  home  of  the  Geysers.  The 
Geysers  were  originally  found  in  Iceland,  and 
the  word  Geyser  is  Icelandic,  meaning  "  vehe- 


152  THE   SUNSET  LAND. 

ment,"  or  "  urgent,"  because  a  Geyser  spouts 
out  water,  hot  or  cold,  and  sometimes  mud  with 
the  water.  You  now  feel  that  you  are  in  a 
strange  place ;  the  ground  burns  your  feet, 
the  air  chokes  and  suffocates  you.  The  atmos- 
phere is  filled  with  the  smell  of  sulphur,  nitric 
acid,  and  every  other  disagreeable  smell  you 
can  imagine.  At  your  feet  boils  out  a  stream 
of  alum.  Perhaps  two  feet  from  that  is 
anothe  rof  nitric  acid,  or  Epsom  salts,  or  soda, 
or  pure  sulphur,  or  sulphuric  acid,  or  ammo- 
nia. Here  is  a  deep-mouthed  opening,  up 
which  is  boiling  a  huge  volume  of  liquid  as 
black  as  ink.  It  is  called  the  *'  Devil's  Ink- 
stand." The  ink  with  which  I  am  now  writ- 
ing this  manuscript  came  from  this  inkstand, 
and  I  am  using  it  just  as  it  was  made  there. 
A  little  above  is  the  "Witch's  Caldron,"  per- 
haps seven  feet  in  diameter,  black,  boiling, 
spouting,  and  raging.  Its  depth  is  unknown. 
All  these  are  boiling,  steaming  hot ;  more  than 


THE    GEYSERS.  153 

a  thousand  of  these  steam-holes  are  in  this 
canon.  On  your  left  is  the  "  Steamboat," 
where,  high  above  your  head,  the  steam 
spouts  and  roars  like  the  letting  off  the  §team 
when  the  steamboat  stops.  Thrust  your  stick 
into  the  side  of  the  hill  anywhere,  and  the 
steam  will  rush  out.  You  seem  to  be  treading 
on  the  viery  borders  of  the  infernal  pit.  What 
with  the  steam,  the  heat,  the  smells,  your 
head  grows  dizzy  and  whirls,  you  pant  for 
breath,  and  you  hasten  to  get  out.  But  you 
must  stop  at  one  more  spot.  It  is  called 
the  "Devil's  Tea-kettle,"  where  the  steam  in- 
termits, and  sputters,  and  wheezes,  as  if 
groaning  in  chains.  You  stick  your  cane  into 
it,  and,  whew !  it  roars  and  sputters  like  a 
huge  cat  when  a  strange  dog  comes  into  the 
room.  You  almost  expect  to  see  the  horns 
of  the  Evil  One  thrust  up  next.  The  place 
is  so  strange  that  you  want  to  stay  longer, 
but  feel  that  it  would  kill  you.     You  can  com- 


154  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

pare  it  to  nothing  but  hell.  It  is  called,  "the 
Pluton  Caiion."  In  the  cool  of  the  evening  or 
morning,  or  in  cold  weather,  the  steam  of  this 
great  concealed  furnace  rises  up,  and  is  ^cen  afar 
off.  Were  a  dome  of  ice  to  be  thrown  over  it, 
the  steam  would  be  so  suffocating  that  nobody 
could  go  near  it.  There  are  probably  hun- 
dreds, if  not  thousands,  of  orifices  in  which 
you  could  roast  eggs.  It  is  said  that  you 
might  stand  at  the  mouth  of  the  canon  and 
hook  a  trout  in  the  big  brook,  and  by  turning 
round  in  your  tracks,  you  could  let  him  down 
and  boil  him  in  one  of  these  little  natural 
kettles. 

By  all  I  had  read  or  heard,  before  visiting 
the  Geysers,  I  had  supposed  them  to  be 
volcanic,  and  that  fire  was  the  cause  of  all 
this  heat,  and  that  it  must  be  not  very  far 
from  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  that  the 
Geysers  were  really  safety-valves  for  the  pre- 
vention of  earthquakes.     A  very  short  exami- 


THE   GEYSERS.  155 

nation  convineed  m6  that  my  notions  were  all 
wrong,  —  that    they  are    not   volcanic,    hut  a "'' 
great  chemical   laboratory, 

I  found  here  iron,  —  thtit  which  makes  the 
inky  water,  —  alum,  ammonia,  sulphuric  acid, 
nitric  acid,  sulphur,  Epsom  salts,  in  large 
crystals ;  acid  water,  which,  sweetened  a  little, 
makes  good  lemonade ;  magnesia,  soda,  and 
one  spring  said  to  be  extraordinary  in  its 
effects  as  an  eye- water.  The  alum  spring  is 
one  hundred  and  seventy-six  degrees  by  the 
thermometer,  and  the  Witch's  Caldron,  one 
hundred  and  ninety-five  and  one  half  degrees. 
Now,  fill  these  great  mountains  with  these  sev- 
eral chemicals,  and  let  in  the  water  upon 
them,  and  let  what  is  left  of  it  make  this  little 
Phiton  Brook,  and  you  have  all  the  phenom- 
ena which  you  find  here.  The  whole  region, 
abounding  in  sulphur  springs  and  hot  springs, 
is  a  hidden  treasury  of  chemistry.  Not  far  \y' 
from   the    Geysers  is    Clear  Lake,  where  they 


156  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

dredge   up    the    bottom-mud    and    find    clear, 
beautiful,    crystallized  borax,  and   can   get,  if 
.  they  can  sell,  six  tons  a  day. 

There  is  no  place  in  the  world  where  borax 
so  pure  and  so  abundant  can  be  found ;  that 
found  in  Thibet  comes  nearest  to  it,  but  the 
borax  is  far  inferior  in  quality  and  in  quan- 
tity, and  so  in  China. 

To  me  it  seems  clear  that  the  day  is  coming 
when  Science  will  come  here  and  uncover 
these  hidden  things,  and  bring  out,  most  likely, 
in  almost  fabulous  quantities,  the  treasures  here 
now  concealed.  I  can  almost  imagine  some 
Yankee  standing  over  the  Devil's  Inkstand  and 
dipping  up  ink  enough  for  the  use  of  a  con- 
tinent. Here,  or  near  here,  undoubtedly,  is 
sulphur  enough  to  furnish  a  nation  with  gun- 
>.  /  powder ;  and  I  write  down  the  Geysers,  not 
merely  as  a  place  where  men  will  go  to  be  hor- 
rified, but  where  they  will  go,  at  a  future  day, 
for  materials  to  be  used  for  the  good  of  men ; 


THE   GEYSERS.  157 

and  these  that  now  seem  to  be  the  breathing-holes 
of  the  pit,  are  only  the  way-marks  by  which 
God  shows  us  where  to  look  for  these  chemi- 
cals, laid  up  till  called  for. 

I  am  aware  that  this  view  destroys  much 
of  the  romance  of  the  thing;  for  it  is  far 
more  romantic  to  feel  that  we  have  stood  over 
a  volcano,  just  i^eady  to  burst  out,  or  over 
regions  infernal,  where  demons  are  panting, 
and  struggling,  and  groaning,  and  you  can 
almost  hear  the  clanking  of  their  chains,  than 
to  feel  that  you  are  in  a  huge  chemical  shop, 
where  the  chemicals  have  got  thrown  together, 
and  water  from  the  hydrant  has  broken  out, 
and  continues  to  run  in  among  them.  But 
that  under  this  covering  there  are  rich  hidden 
treasures,  which  will  one  day  bless  the  world, 
I  have  not  a  doubt. 

I  have  thus  given  you  a  bird's-eye  view  of 
the  capabilities  of  California  —  where  nothing 


v 


158  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

that  man  has  done  is  over  twenty  years  old, 
—  and  yet  he  has  achieved  wonders,  —  where 
the  hand  of  man  has  yet  touched  but  three 
per  cent,  of  her  rich  soil,  where  everything 
is  and  grows,  and  is  to  be  and  grow,  on  a 
scale  unexampled,  and  where  the  invitations 
for  men  to  go  are  loud.  But  the  men  to  go 
there  should  be  men  of  industry,  men  of 
intelligence,  men  who  only  want  opportunity 
and  materials  with  which  to  work,  and  if 
they  can  carry  capital,  so  much  the  better ; 
but  it  is  not  the  place  for  drones,  or  those  who 
waat  to  live  without  labor.  Such  are  not 
welcomed ;  but  the  right  kind  of  men  are 
welcomed  with  a  cordiality  that  is  beautiful. 

The  inhabitants  gathered  there  are  from  all 
parts  of  the  world,  and  they  all  understand 
that  they  are  to  lay  aside  their  prejudices,  and 
melt  into  a  new  and  homogeneous  society; 
and  they  do  so. 

The  country  is    a   new   field   for  human   in- 


bird's-eye  view.  159 

dustry,  and  experiments  new  and  great  arc 
there  to  be  made.  God  has  reserved  all 
this  for  designs  which  I  shall  hint  at  here- 
after. 

Mines  of  the  precious  metals  there  are,  and 
mines  of  iron,  and  lead,  and  copper,  and 
quicksilver ;  mines  of  coal  and  tin  there  are ; 
but  after  all,  the  deep,  rich  soil  of  the  State 
will  be  the  great  source  of  wealth,  and  will 
call  in  a  population  that  will  carry  there  all 
that  is  good  in  the  old  States,  leaving  behind, 
I  trust,  what  is  evil. 

I  stand  on  the  Nevadas,  and  look  off  over 
this  strange  country ;  and  I  am  not  looking  at 
so  many  acres  of  grain,  so  many  mines,  so 
many  factories,  but  I  am  looking  at  a  territory  V^ 
now  embraced  in  a  single  State,  which,  when 
filled  up  as  Massachusetts  is  to-day,  will  con- 
tain twenty  millions  of  people,  —  where  gen- 
eration after  generation  is  to  come  up  and 
pass  away,  —  where  art,  and  mind,  and  wealth, 


160  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

and  skill,  and  luxury,  and  ambition,  and  edu- 
cation, and  religion  will  all  struggle  together 
for  supremacy,  but  through  it  all,  will  roll  the 
River  of  God  to  make  glad  the  cities  of  our 
God,  and  to  cool  the  passions,  and  moderate 
the  spirits,  and  fit  the  unborn  multitudes 
for  a  higher  end  than  can  be  attained  on 
any,  even  the  most  favored  spot,  in  this 
world. 

Our  Schools  and  Colleges,  our  Churches 
and  our  Institutions,  will  live  again  in  all 
those  beautiful  valleys,  and  a  tide  of  living 
joy  will  continually  roll  through  them,  and 
the  song  of  praise  and  gratitude  will  go  up 
to  heaven  —  "  loud  as  from  voices  without 
number."  That  wonderful  region  is  to  be 
another  monument  raised  to  the  honor  of  the 
Pilorrims,  and  of  that  wisdom  which  was  born 
in  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower. 


CLAIMS   OF   THE    MORMONS.  101 


CHAPTER    V. 

MORMONS    AND   MORMONISM. 

It  is  very  difficult,  if  not  almost  impossible, 
to  speak  of  the  Mormons  with  feelings  perfectly 
balanced.  In  their  history  there  is  the  romance 
of  fanaticism  and  the  romance  of  suffering.  You 
pity  them  for  the  cruel  persecutions  which  they 
claim  to  have  endured ;  you  are  amazed  at  their 
credulity ;  you  are  in  admiration  over  their  in- 
dustry, and  you  are  indignant  at  their  assump- 
tions of  religion,  under  the  name  of  which  they 
glory  in  practices  for  which  the  whole  civilized 
world  send  men  to  the  State  Prison.  They 
claim  that  theirs  is  the  new,  the  last,  the  most 
perfect  Dispensation,  — revealed  from  Heaven ; 
that  they  are  "  the  Latter-Day  Saints,"  are  the 
11 


162  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

special  and  only  favorites  of  Heaven,  and  are 
directly  inspired  by  God. 

They  claim  that  one  Joseph  Smith  dug  brass 
plates  out  of  a  hill,  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
"which  hill  they  call  Cumorah  ;  that  these  plates 
were  in  an  ancient,  unknown  language  ;  that 
Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  was  inspired  to  translate 
the  writings  engraven  on  these  plates,  and 
that  the  Book  of  Mormon  is  this  translation. 
How  these  plates  were  put  into  that  spot,  how» 
kept  from  corroding,  how  they  could  make  a 
book  of  five  hundred  and  sixty-three  pages, 
very  closely  printed,  I  cannot  ascertain.  In 
the  beginning  of  the  book,  is  the  certificate 
of  several  that  they  had  seen  these  plates. 
Three  of  these  testify  that  an  angel  from 
heaven-  brought  and  showed  them  to  them. 
The  others,  among  which  is  the  testimony  of 
Smith,  Sr.,  merely  assert  that  they  had  seen 
them  in  the  hands  of  the  translator,  Joseph 
Smith,  Jr.     I  could   not   find   any  one  among 


HISTORY   OF   THE   MORMONS.  1G3- 

them  who  had  ever  seen  the  plates,  though  I 
found  a  man,  stone  blind,  who  assured  me  that 
he  had  seen  the  hole  out  of  which  the  plates 
were  dug.  They  claim  that  as  soon  as  Smith 
had  fairlj  got  the  plates,  he  began  to  be  per- 
secuted, and  had  to  flee  from  place  to  place 
while  translating  them ;  that  he  had  to  meet 
vexatious  lawsuits,  more  than  fifty  in  number; 
and  that  he  paid  out  in  these  lawsuits,  first 
and  last,  the  sura  of  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
one  thousand  dollars  ! 

He  was  the  first  Prophet.  They  claim  that, 
for  his  religion,  the  Prophet,  and  his  brother 
Hiram,  and  some  others,  were  imprisoned,  and 
at  one  time  actually  fed  on  human  flesh.  For 
myself,  I  cannot  see  why  a  divinely  inspired 
man  should  not  know  what  flesh  he  was  eating. 
They  claim  that  the  saints  first  undertook  to 
settle  in  Ohio,  but  were  driven  out  by  a  mob. 
They  then  went  to  Missouri,  and  made  two 
several    attempts     to    settle  ;    had    purchased 


164  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

farms,  built  mills,  churches,  &c.,  and  were 
driven  out  by  violence,  and  outrage,  and  mur- 
der. They  then  went  to  Illinois,  into  a 
swampy,  unhealthy  region,  and  made  it  into  a 
garden.  This  was  their  Nauvoo,  where  they 
built  an  immense  temple. 

Here,  too,  they  were  persecuted,  driven  out 
by  armed  men,  and  their  city  bombarded  by 
at  least  five  hundred  remorseless,  armed  men. 
The  story  of  their  exile,  their  persecutions, 
and  their  sufierings,  is  most  painful.  Of 
course,  I  take  their  own  accounts,  for  the 
other  side  of  the  story  has  never  been  written, 
or  if  it  has,  I  have  never  seen  it.  But  it 
will  be  written,  and  we  shall  then  have  both 
sides  of  the  story.  I  am  assured  that  the 
other  side  view  will  be  very  different,  and 
will  make  fearfully  against  their  own  history. 
We  shall  see.  But,  taking  their  version,  I 
hesitate  not  to  say,  that  the  treatment  which 
they  received  in  Illinois  was  not  merely  unjust 


HISTORY   OF   TIIE^  MORMONS.  165 

and  unkind,  but  it  was  cruel  to  a  degree  that 
ought  to  make   savages  blush. 

It  was  in  the  year  1845  that  the  mob  began 
to  burn  then*  houses,  pillage  their  property, 
shamefully  treat  their  women,  and  finally  mur- 
dered Joseph  Smith  and  his  brother  Hiram. 
What  it  was  that  so  exasperated  the  comniunity 
I  cannot  see.  It  was  not  polygamy,  for  at 
that  time,  they  had  had  no  revelation  allow- 
ing more  than  one  wife.  In  their  "Book  of 
Doctrines  and  Covenants,"  containing  the  reve- 
lations made  to  Smith  and  many  others,  men 
and  women,  they  say  positively  (page  331), 
"  Inasmuch  as  this  Church  of  Christ  has  been 
reproached  with  the  crime  of  fornication  and 
polygamy,  we  declare  that  we  believe  that  one 
man  should  have  one  wife,  and  one  woman 
but  one  husband,  except  in  case  of  death, 
when  either  is  at  liberty  to  marry  again." 

It  seems  to  have  been  one  of  those  periods 
of  frenzy,  like  that  which  burned  the  witches 


166  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

at  Salem,  and  which  sometimes  unaccountably 
sweeps  through  a  community.  The  community 
of  Mormons,  being  once  more  expelled  from 
what  they  supposed  their  homes,  now  set  their 
faces  westward.  As  many  as  twelve  hundred 
wagons  had  been  built  by  February,  1846, 
w^hen  the  strongest  and  healthiest  set  forward 
and  crossed  the  Mississippi  on  the  ice.  The 
feebler  portion  were  left  to  come  in  the  spring. 
But  violence  came  upon  them,  and  they  had 
to  winter  on  the  bottom-lands  of  the  river, 
enduring  famine,  sickness,  and  death.  Here 
they  claim  the  Lord  interposed,  and  sent  them 
such  clouds  of  quails,  and  so  tame,  that  they 
had  but  to  knock  them  down  with  a  stick. 
On  these  they  lived  for  months. 

The  w^hole  number  of  Mormons  now  was 
al)out  twenty  thousand.  They  claim  that  in 
every  persecution  they  endured,  ministers  of 
Christ  —  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  —  were  the 
instigators  and  the  ringleaders.  Gredat  Judoeus 
Apella, 


HISTORY   OF   THE   MORMONS.  167 

They  were  now  scattered  all  through  the 
country  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Mis- 
souri, and  a  more  affecting  picture  of  their 
being  spoiled  and  of  sufferings  —  as  drawn  by 
General  Kane,  the  brother  of  Dr.  Kane,  of 
Arctic  fame  —  can  hardly  be  founds  Gradu- 
ally the  whole  multitude  worked  their  way 
westward,  through  the  country  of  the  Potta- 
wattamie Indians,  three  hundred  miles,  to  the 
Missouri  River.  The  Pottawattamies  had  just 
sold  their  lands  to  the  United  States,  and  were 
to  give  possession  the  coming  season;  and, 
of  course,  there  the  Saints  could  find  no  home. 
They  had  now  to  build  ferry  boats,  by  which 
to  cross  the  Missouri.  They  crossed  chiefly 
at  Omaha,  near  which,  they  say,  they  found 
"some  missionaries  and  Indian  traders,  who 
occupied  their  time  principally  in  selling  whis-. 
key  to  and  swindling  the  Indians."  Who 
these  whiskey-selling  and  swindling  missiona- 
ries were,   we  are  not  told. 


168  THE    StTNSET   LAND. 

Such  assertions  remind  one  of  the  prophets 
described  hj  Jeremiah :  "  They  are  prophets 
of  the  deceit  of  their  own  hearts."  The  Mor- 
mons also  chiim,  that  at  the  Missouri  River 
an  officer  met  them  with  a  requisition  for  five 
hundred  men  to  go  to  the  Mexican  war ;  that 
in  three  days  that  number  left  their  families, 
and  were  on  their  march  ;  that  they  w^ere 
infantry,  and  passed  over  the  deserts,  and 
through  pathless  mountains,  and  made  the  un- 
exampled march  of  two  thousand  and  fifty 
miles,  to  San  Diego,  California,  most  of  the 
time  on  half,  and  often  on  quarter  rations. 

Brigham  Young  was  now  the  prophet  and 
leader,  in  the  place  of  Joseph  Smith.  He 
now  had  a  revelation  allowing,  if  not  enjoin- 
ing, polygamy.  While  waiting  for  those  left 
behind,  covering  a  path  of  two  hundred  miles. 
Young  built  over  seven  hundred  log-houses 
for  the  next  winter  quarters ;  also  water  and 
horse-power  mills,  and  one   hundred  and  fifty 


HISTORY   OP   THE   MORMONS.  169 

of  what  they  call  **  dug-outs,**  i.  c,  huts  in  tho 
ground,  and  only  the  roof  above  the  cellar. 

In  the  spring  of  1847,  Brigham  Young, 
who  bears  the  title  of  President,  left  his  twenty 
thousand  at  or  near  the  Missouri,  and  with 
one  hundred  and  forty-three  men,  sef  forward 
on  an  exploring  expedition.  My  belief  is  that 
he  intended  to  find  a  path  over  the  unknown 
deserts  into  Oregon.  Starting  before  the  grass 
had  groAvn,  they  carried  their  food,  and  fed 
their  cattle  on  the  bark  of  the  cotton-wood 
tree,  till  the  grass  should  spring  up.  For  six 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  they  made  their  own 
road,  and  for  four  hundred  more  they  followed 
a  trapper's  trail.  This  one  thousand  and  fifty 
miles  brought  them  to  a  valley.  This  valley 
was  baiTen,  and  covered  with  crickets ;  but 
here  Young  had  a  revelation  that  he  was  to 
stop,  and  this  was  to  be  the  home  of  the 
Mormons.  .  The  valley  was  about  twenty-eight 
miles  by  twenty-five.     Notwithstanding  his  rev- 


170  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

elation,  he  sent  out  his  men  in  exploring  par- 
ties, in  all  directions,  to  see  if  they  could  find 
a  spot  more  to  their  minds.  This  was  just 
twenty-two*  years  ago  this  very  month,  i.  e., 
July,  1847.  His  messengers  returned,  finding 
no  spot  so  good  as  the  one  divinely  pointed 
out.  Here  they  began  to  plant  the  few  pota- 
toes they  had  brought,  and  sowed  a  little 
gi'ain. 

The  valley  was  barren ,  covered  with  the  wild 
sage  bush,  which  grows  only  in  alkaline  soils. 
Nothing  could  be  more  forbidding.  Not  a 
tree  gi-ew  for  shade,  not  a  green  thing  for 
the  eye.  With  characteristic  energy,  Young 
went  back  to  his  people,  starting  them  onward, 
and  seeing  that  they  took  all  the  food  they 
could.  Now,  for  years,  the  work  was  to  get 
all  the  multitude  —  the  old,  the  young,  and 
the  infant  —  on  to  the  new  home.  Wagons 
and  teams  by  the  hundreds,  handcarts  con- 
veying the  sick  and  children,  often  drawn  by 


HISTORY   OF   THE   MORMONS.  171 

women,  new  graves  of  the  pilgrims,  strung  all 
along  their  route,  marked  this  epoch.  The 
first  year  after  their  arrival,  the  large  mountain 
crickets  came  down  in  such  nmltitudcs  as  to 
threaten  to  eat  up  everything.  Just  as  they 
began  to  despair,  the  white  gulls  from  the 
rocks  in  the  Salt  Lake  came  in  vast  flocks, 
and  with  an  appetite  so  insatiable,  that  they 
arrested  the  ruin,  and  were  their  deliverers. 
Notwithstanding,  before  they  had  learned  how 
to  manage  their  soil,  they  came  so  near  starva- 
tion, that  they  had  to  dig  wild  roots  with  the 
Indians,  eat  every  hide  and  skin  they  had, 
and  everything  that  was  possibly  eatable. 

The  Mormons  claim  that  they  carried  the 
first  printing  press  that  ever  crossed  the  Mis- 
souri ;  that  they  raised  the  first  national  flag 
that  ever  waved  in  Utah;  that  they  made  the 
first  brick  ever  made  in  California ;  that  they 
carried  there  the  first  emigrant  ship  and  the 
fii-st  printing  press ;  that  they  discovered  and 


172  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

dug  the  first  gold;  that  they  discovered  their 
valley  where  the  foot  of  only  one  trapper  had 
ever  gone  before.  They  claim  that  during  the 
four  months'  trail,  in  1849,  when  the  old  and 
the  young  died  most  fearfully,  the  spinning- 
wheel  and  the  loom,  set  up  in  wagons,  never 
stopped  a  single  day !  They  claim  that  the 
first  newspaper  published  west  of  the  river, 
and  also  the  first  in  San  Francisco,  was  pub- 
lished by  the  Mormons. 

Though  in  1850  there  was  not  a  shingled 
roof  (all  being  cloth)  among  them,  yet  the 
emigrant  wagons,  as  they  stopped  on  their 
way  to  California,  never  lacked  hospitality  and 
kindness ;  their  sick  never  lacked  care  and 
nursing,  and  never  had  or  took  occasion  to 
complain  of  heavy  charges.  Such  is  a  brief 
history  of  the  beginning  of  Mormonism,  as 
they  give  it. 

Now,  for  a  few  minutes,  forget  the  history 
of  the    Mormons,   and  go    with   me  to  a  spot 


A  BEAUTIFUL   SPOT.  173 

in  the  far  interior  of  North  America.  In  the 
midst  of  the  fearful  desert,  between  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  the  Nevada  Range,  rises  up 
the  Wahsatch  Range  of  Mountains,  running 
parallel  with  the  other  two  ranges,  north  and 
south.  It  is  not  a  single  peak  or  ridge,  but 
a  range  of  ridges  and  spurs,  with  little  valleys 
between  them.  You  are  now  in  one  of  these 
valleys,  with  high  mountains  all  around  you : 
one  turret  before  you  is  eleven  thousand  seven 
hundred  feet  high,  and  snow  hangs  and  covers 
their  tops  the  year  round.  The  air  is  so  clear 
that  these  mountains,  fifteen  miles  off,  do  not 
look  to  be  over  four  or  five.  The  air  is  soft, 
and  it  seems  as  if  summer  had  contrived  to 
hide  and  play  under  the  mantle  of  winter.  In 
the  midst  of  this  valley  is  a  gentle  swell  of 
ground.  Turn  your  face  north,  and  you  see, 
twelve  miles  distant,  a  great  blue  sheet  of 
water;  and  on  your  right,  a  mile  or  two  dis- 
tant, a  sweet  river,  making  towards  that  great- 


174  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

er  water.  On  that  gentle  swell  stands  a  city, 
laid  out  in  squares.  The  streets  run  east  and 
west,  north  and  south,  and  each  four  miles 
long.  They  are  each  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
two  feet,  or  eight  rods,  wide.  On  each  side 
of  every  street  flows  a  brook  of  clear,  pure 
mountain  water,  and  rows  of  trees  are  planted 
along  every  watercourse.  It  seems  to  you 
that  some  of  these  streams  must  be  running  up 
hill.  But  there  they  are,  in  full  speed,  running 
through  every  street  in  the  city.  The  squares 
of  the  city  are  laid  out  so  as  to  have  just 
ten  acres  in  each  square,  and  these  ten  acres 
again  divided  up  into  eight  squares,  so  as  to 
give  one  and  a  quarter  acre  to  each  house. 
These  little  squares  are  all  made  into  gardens, 
planted  with  trees,  bearing  all  manner  of  fruits 
and  vegetables.  Among  this  shrubbery,  is  the 
dwelling-house,  built  of  adobe  brick,  —  i.  e., 
clay  unburnt,  —  the  bricks  smooth,  well-shaped, 
and   of  an   olive   or   gray  color,  —  the   houses 


WATER    AND    BEAUTY.  175 

often  two  stories  high,  and  very  neat  in  ap- 
pearance. 

In  one  of  these  squares,  rises  up  a  huge 
building,  oval  in  shape,  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-one feet  long,  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
one  wide,  and  seventy  high,  with  a  roof  that 
resembles  one  of  the  metallic,  oval  covers  with 
which  we   cover  our   dinner   platters. 

Every  garden  is  watered  or  irrigated  by 
a  little  stream  drawn  from  the  street-brook 
nearest  to  it.  The  abimdance  and  constancy 
of  water  make  the  trees  and  the  veofetation 
dance  in  a  halo  of  green.  In  the  most  busy 
street,  these  acre-and-a-quarter  squares  are  cut 
up,  and  store  joins  store,  and  shop  joins  shop, 
as  in  any  other  city.  The  population  of  the 
city  is  about  twenty   thousand  people. 

This,  then,  is  "  Salt  Lake  City,"  the  centre 
of  Mormonism  —  a  city  and  a  people  unlike 
anything  else  in  the  wide  world.  That  huge 
building  is  their  Tabernacle,  or  church.     You 


176  THE    SUN8ET   LAND. 

gaze  upon  the  mountains  rising  up  all  around 
you  like  a  rim  of  rock  —  not  a  tree  on  them ; 
at  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  twelve  miles  off; 
at  the  Eiver  Jordan,  on  your  right ;  at  the 
rushing  of  the  mountain  torrent,  pouring  in  a 
paved  channel  through  the  middle  of  a  central 
street,  that  seems  to  sing  as  he  goes,  "I  am 
what  is  left  of  the  mountain  stream,  after  the 
city  has  drank  all  that  it  wants ;  "  and  you 
gaze  at  the  soft,  hazy  atmosphere  around  you, 
and  feel  that  3^ou  are  on  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful spots  on  which  the  sun  shines.  Can 
this  be  the  desert  which,  twenty-two  years 
ago,  was  covered  with  wild  sage?  What  mas- 
ter mind  planned,  laid  out  this  city  of  the 
desert,  and  made  it  what  it  is  to-day?  You 
soon  learn  that  this  is  only  one  among  many 
evidences  of  the  workings  of  a  very  shrewd 
mind.  When  you  get  out  of  the  city,  you 
find  the  whole  Territory  surveyed  off,  first 
into    five-acre    lots ;    and    then   the    next   tier, 


UTAH   TEKUlTOUr.  177 

ten  acres;  the  third,  twenty;  and  the  most 
remote  forty  acres,  which  is  the  highest  amount 
any  one  man  may  own. 

You  now  find  that  among  the  spurs  of  this 
great  range  of  mountains,  there  are  many  lit- 
tle valleys  creeping  up  among  them,  for  a  long, 
long  distance.  You  find  the  Territory  of  Utah 
to  contain  sixty-five  thousand  square  miles ;  or 
about  nine  times  as  large  as  Massachusetts. 
This,  in  acres,  is  forty-one  million  six  hun- 
dred thousand.  Of  this,  not  over  five  hundred 
thousand  acres  are  supposed  to  be  capable  of 
cultivation,  leaving  forty-one  millions  of  acres 
not  cultivable;  i.  e.,  only  one  acre  in  eighty- 
three  can  ever  be  cultivated.  The  inhabitants 
in  Salt  Lake  City  amount  to  about  twenty 
thousand,  Mormons  and  "Gentiles,"  as  they 
call  all  who  are  not  Mormons. 

They  have  one  hundred  and  thirty  cities 
and  villages  scattered  among  these  valleys,  to 
the  distance  of  four  hundred  miles  one  way, 
12 


178  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

and  two  hundred  the  other  way,  and  in  all 
about  one  hundred  thousand  people.  They 
are  industrious  and  frugal  to  a  wonderful  de- 
gree, and  have  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand 
acres,  or  one  third  of  all  their  land,  under 
cultivation.  Of  this,  ninety-four  thousand 
acres  are  cultivated  by  irrigation,  bringing  in 
an  annual  water-rentage  of  two  hundred  and 
seventy-four  thousand  dollars.  They  have 
eighty  thousand  acres  in  grain,  two  thousand 
in  coarse  sugar-cane,  six  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred in  roots,  two  hundred  in  cotton,  nine 
hundred  in  orchards,  one  thousand  in  peach, 
seventy-five  in  grapes,  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
five  in  currants,  and  thirty  thousand  in  grass. 
When,  in  1847,  they  first  raised  the  Amer- 
ican flag,  the  Territory  belonged  to  Mexico. 
In  it  are  mines  yet  to  be  worked,  of  iron,  coal, 
and  gold,  and  probably  silver.  Their  valleys 
extend,  north  and  south,  eight  hundred  miles. 
All  around  these  valleys  are  deserts  of  a  hun^ 


SALT   LAKE    CITY.  179 

dred  miles  in  every  direction.  The  climate 
is  dry  and  hot,  but  exceedingly  pleasant,  and 
mild  in  winter.  The  proi^erty  expended  in 
aqueducts  is  estimated  at  ten  million  five  hun- 
dred and  eightj^-eight  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  eighty-two  dollars. 

Salt  Lake  has  a  City  Hall  which  cost  seventy 
thousand  dollars,  and  the  city  has  no  debt ; 
and  the  Territory  has  actually  a  surplus  of 
seventeen  thousand  dollars  in  its  treasury; 
they  have  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  school 
districts,  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  schools, 
eighteen  thousand  children,  and  three  hundred 
and  six  teachers,  at  an  annual  expense  of  sixty- 
one   thousand   dollars. 

They  are  taking  measures  to  make  a  canal 
from  the  Utah  Lake,  forty  miles  distant,  at 
an  expense  of  about  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  which  wiH  enable  them  to  irrigate 
fifty  thousand  acres  more ;  for  nothing  can  be 
raised  there  without  constant  and  careful  irri- 


180  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

gation.  But  with  it,  everything  is  raised  in 
the  greatest  profusion  and  abundance.  They 
boast  of  a  theatre,  churches  in  all  the  villages, 
debating  clubs,  and  Female  Eelief  Societies. 
Wherever  mountain  streams  are  found,  they 
are  conducted  to  the  soil,  and  if,  for  a  single 
day,  it  should  be  shut  off  from  their  gardens, 
they  would  suffer,  if  not  perish.  Sometimes, 
in  dry  seasons,  the  water  is  allowed  but  half 
the  day,  and  often  they  must  get  up  at  mid- 
night to  let  it  on.  In  the  intensely  Salt  Lake, 
twelve  miles  off,  ninety  miles  long  and  fifty 
wide,  there  shoot  up  sharp  mountains,  bare 
rock,  not  a  living  thing  on  them,  unless  it  be 
gulls,  making  an  addition  to  the  dreariness  of 
the  scene. 

This  lake  has  risen  nine  feet  during  the  last 
two  years,  and  is  now  three  hundred  feet 
lower  than  the  water-marks  on  the  surround- 
ing mountains  show  it  once  to  have  been.  Is 
there  any  probability  that  it  w^ill  ever  rise  up 


WHO   BECAME   MORMONS.  181 

to  its  old  place?  Who  knows?  It  has  the 
Bear  and  the  «Tordan,  and  I  believe  other 
rivers,  emptying  into  it ;  but  it  has  no  visible 
outlet.  How  are  Ave  to  account  for  the  rise 
of  the  lake?  Have  the  cultivation  of  the  land, 
the  growth  of  trees  and  vegetation,  been  suffi- 
cient to  increase  the  rain  so  as  to  raise  the 
waters  of  this  great  lake?     I  doubt  it. 

Who  make  Mormons,  and  whence  come 
they?  I  reply,  they  are  mostly  foreigners, 
from  the  lowest,  most  illiterate  strata  of  soci- 
ety in  Europe.  They  are  from  the  quarries 
in  Wales,  from  Norway,  Sweden,  and  espe- 
cially from  Denmark.  At  a  period  as  early 
as  when  they  were  on  the  banks  of  the  Mis- 
souri, Brigham  Young  sent  what  they  call 
missionaries  to  Europe,  and  began  a  system 
of  Emigration  and  filling  up  his  society  from 
abroad.  I  do  not  know  what  arguments  such 
a  recruiting  officer  would  use,  but  doubtless 
he  would  tell  those  who  were  almost  starving, 


182  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

that  here  they  would  find  food  enough ;  those 
who  wore  wooden  shoes,  that  here  they  would 
wear  leather ;  those  who  never  aspired  to  own 
anything  in  the  shape  of  property,  that  here 
they  would  actually  become  land-holders,  and 
own  real  estate ! 

In  the  mean  time  he  started  a  Permanent 
Emigration  Fund,  to  which  every  emigrant 
was  to  contribute  at  least  enough  to  pay  his 
own  passage,  as  soon  as  he  was  able.  Out  of 
this_  fund  they  have,  up  to  the  present  time, 
expended  more  than  five  million  dollars  in 
bringing  emigrants  over  the  ocean.  So  per- 
fect was  the  system  arranged,  that  when  the 
emigrants  landed  on  the  banks  of  the  Mis- 
souri, there  would  be  five  hundred  wagons  of 
four  yokes  of  oxen  or  mules  each,  and  carry- 
ing ten  in  a  wagon,  waiting  to  put  them  on 
to  their  new  homes.  A  committee  of  the 
British  Parliament  has  sat  at  the  feet  of  the 
Mormons,  to  learn  their  system  of  aiding  emi- 


EMIGRATION   SYSTEM.  183 

gration.  At  the  present  time,  when  the  Rail- 
road brings  on  a  new  colony,  they  have  every- 
thing arranged  most  curiously.  Almost  all 
who  now  come,  have  relatives  or  friends  among 
the  Mormons,  who  have  written  to  them ;  for 
they  assured  me  of  the  astonishing  fact,  that 
there  is  not  a  Mormon  who  cannot  read  and 
write  in  his  own  native  language  —  which  I 
am  compelled  to  doubt.  Long  before  the  em- 
igrants arrive,  the  Rulers  receive  a  list  of  the 
names  of  those  who  are  coming.  This  list  is 
posted  up  on  the  walls  near  the  Tabernacle, 
and  the  time  mentioned  when  they  will  arrive. 
Now,  suppose  an  arrival  of  eight  hundred  on 
Wednesday  evening.  It  is  all  known  who  are 
coming,  and  when.  From  the  distant  valleys, 
all  through  Mormondom,  the  tealns  have  gath- 
ered, and  by  breakfast  time  next  morning, 
they  are  all  carried  out  of  the  city,  to  visit 
a  few  days  with  their  friends,  and  then  they 
get  on  their  little  tracts  of  land,  build  a  cayote 


184  THE   SUNSET  LAND. 

house,  which  a  man  can  build  in  a  day,  and 
begin  life.  A  cayote  house  is  a  small  cellar 
dug  in  the  sand,  and  a  few  boards  set  up  over 
the  hole  as  a  roof.  The  hole  into  it  is  like 
the  hole  of  the  cayote  wolfs  burrow  ;  and 
hence  the  name.  The  emigrant  stays  in  the 
cayote  till  he  has  the  means  of  building  an 
adobe  dwelling.  As  fast  as  he  is  able,  he 
pays  back  what  has  been  advanced  for  his 
passage.  In  the  construction  of  the  Railroad 
lately,  these  were  let  out  to  work,  and  the 
emigration  fund  was  paid  in  rapidly.  Still, 
there  are  due  this  fund,  at  the  present  time, 
the  Rulers  tell  me,  not  less  than  six  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  I  suppose  this  debt,  when 
paid  in,  would  remove  six  thousand  people 
from  Europe  'to  Utah.  I  met  three  hundred 
on  a  single  train,  on  their  way,  as  I  came 
eastward. 

Among  a  thousand  men  or  more,  who  worked 
on  the  railroad,  from  the  Mormons,  there  were 


MORMON    GOVERNl^ENT.  185 

no  murders,  no  drunkenness,  and  no  fightings. 
In  the  streets  of  the  city  are  no  brawls,  or 
intoxication.  In  all  Mormondom  there  is  but 
one  place  where  intoxicating  liquors  are  sold ; 
and  that  favored  man,  who  sells  them,  lias  to 
pay  for  a  license,  seven  thousand  two  hun- 
dred dollars  annually,  paying  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  dollars,  in  advance,  every  quar- 
ter!  Such  a  license  law  would  do  the  business 
in  Massachusetts,  or  anywhere  else. 

The  government  of  the  Mormons  seems  to 
consist  of  a  Presidejit  and  Prophet,  united, 
who  is  Brigham  Young  —  the  receiver  of  rev- 
elations, and  the  vicegerent  of  heaven.  With 
him  are  associated  three  chief  councillors,  then 
twelve  apostles,  then  bishops  enough  to  be 
scattered  through  every  town  and  village,  giving 
one  to  each.  The  Bishop  is  a  kind  of  judge, 
ruler,  alcalde,  teacher,  preacher,  magistrate, 
and  sometimes  the  miller,  or  the  storekeeper, 
or  the  raiser  of  cattle,  or  cotton,  or  the  man- 


186  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

ufacturer,  or  the  hotel-keeper  of  the  village. 
He  is  selected  for  his  self-coutrol,  shrewd- 
ness, aud  ability  to  manage  men.  He  is  the 
man  —  omnis  homo  —  of  the  village.  Then 
there  are  subordinate  officers,  like  the  Israel- 
ites of  old,  down  to  rulers  of  tens. 

The  greatest  shrewdnesss  is  shown  in  put- 
ting the  right  man  in  the  right  place ;  and 
as  the  keen  mind  of  Young  can  appoint  and 
remove,  and  not  a  soul  ever  ask  a  question, 
he  is  sure  to  make  a  wise  selection,  first  or 
last.  He  appoints  the  officers,  and  if,  for  any 
reason,  he  thinks  it  best  to  remove  a  man 
from  the  territory  for  a  time,  he  has  only  to 
tell  him  it  is  thought  best  for  him  to  go  on 
a  Foreign  Mission^  and  that  he  will  buy  his 
house,  setting  his  own  price  on  it,  and  the 
man  bows  in  silence,  and  does  it  all.  There 
are  what  they  call  Gentiles  among  them ;  but, 
taking  the  whole  population,  they  do  not  ex- 
ceed  two   and  a   half  per  cent.     I   ought  also 


INDUSTRY   OF  THE   MORMONS.  187 

to  say  that  they  claim  that  their  treatment  of  the 
Indians  has  ever  been  just  and  kind,  acting  on 
the  principle,  that  it  is  cheaper  to  feed  them  than 
to  fight  them,  and  that  they  have  never  had 
their  emigrant  trains  molested,  or  lost  a  life 
or  a  dollar  of  property  by  the  Indians.  Nor 
is  it  too  much  to  say,  that,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  Mormons  to  furnish  labor  and  food, 
the  Pacific  Railroad  could  not  have  been  built, 
at  present,  even  if  it  ever  could  have  been 
done.  The  bee-hive,  painted  on  the  wall 
which  surrounds  ^the  offices  and  dwellings  of 
Young,  is  a  good  emblem  of  that  industry 
which  is  everywhere  most  apparent.  If  there 
are  more  men  in  the  city  than  are  needed  to 
do  the  work  of  the  city,  they  are  sent  out. 
You  will  wondcn-  to  see  an  uncouth  adobe 
wall  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  about 
twelve  feet  high,  stretching  round  the  city 
for  miles.  It  is  in  ruins,  and  never  was  of 
any    earthly   use.      It   was   built    at    a    time 


188  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

when  the  population  had  nothing  to  do,  under 
pretence  of  guarding  against  the  Indians ; 
but  in  reality,  it  was  to  keep  the  people  em- 
ployed. Nor  are  you  surprised,  either,  to 
learn  that  canals,  to  the  amount  of  a  thousand 
miles  in  length,  have  been  dug,  in  order  to 
bring  water  into  the  city  and  over  their 
house  lots. 

This  untiring  industry  is  manifested  also 
by  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  grist  and  saw- 
mills, three  cotton,  and  four  woollen  factories, 
twenty-five  tanneries,  besides  the  making  of 
shoes,  hats,  wagons,  nails,  furniture,  and  the 
like.  The  theory  of  the  leading  mind  among 
them  is,  that  they  shall  raise  and  manufacture 
everything  they  use,  and  thus  be,  and  con- 
tinue to  be,  a  community,  distinct  and  sep- 
arate from  all  others,  having  their  own  stan- 
dard of  civilization  and  religion. 

I  have  thus  far  given  you  what  I  deem  a 
candid  view  of  the  best  side  of  the  picture,  — 


THE   DESPOTISM   OF   YOUNG.  189 

such  as  the  stranger  gets  on  a  single  day's 
visit.  Here  is  a  community  gathered  from 
diflfereut  parts  of  the  world,  brought  and 
cemented  together,  a  perfect  outward  fusion, 
making  them  a  unit,  differing  from  all  other 
people  in  government,  domestic  habits,  and 
religion.  Has  that  community  been  thus  ce- 
mented by  religion,  as  they  claim,  or  by 
something  else?  Will  that  system  be  perma- 
nent, or  has  it  the  seeds  of  death  within 
itself? 

Now,.  I  am  going  to  say  frankly,  but  I 
hope  kindly,  what  other  impressions  were 
made  upon  my  own  mind. 

(a.)  I  think  the  government  is  a  despotism, 
rigid  in  its  exactions,  omnipresent  in  its 
watchfulness,  far-seeing  in  its  plans,  and  un- 
scrupulous in  using  means  to  attain  its  ends. 
I  do  not  deny,  nay,  I  have  said,  that  it  has 
done  a  great  amount  of  good,  in  gathering 
the  poor  of  the  earth,  melting  them  together. 


190  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

making   them    earn   their     bread,    and     giving 
them  a  civilization  as  high  as  it  is. 

But  this  ignorant  mass  is  clay  in  the  hands 
of  the  master  spirit.  The  presiding  Genius 
wields,  in  their  view,  all  the  authority  that 
earth  and  heaven  can  give  him.  He  is 
prophet  and  king.  When  I  see  that  not  a 
man  among  all  Jiis  subjects  dares  disobey 
any  order  of  his,  when  their  amiable  Delegate 
to  Congress  tells  me  that  when  he  is  elect- 
ed, it  is  done  on  this  wise :  In  the  Assem- 
bly Young  says,  "  Brethren,  we  are  now  to 
elect  a  member  of  Congress;  our  Brother, 
Mr.  Hooper,  has  done  very  well,  and  I  think 
we  cannot  do  better  than  send  him  again ; " 
and  that  decision  gives  a  unanimous  vote ; 
and  when  the  same  amiable  Member  tells  me 
that  were  he,  when  in  Congress,  to  receive 
a  telegram  from  Young,  saying,  "Your  pres- 
ence is  needed  in  London,"  he  would  pack 
up    and  be  off  within  three  days ;    and   when 


DESPOTISM   OF   YOUNG.  191 

they  all  tell  mo  no  man  has  yet  ever  refused 
to  go  on  a  Foreign  Mission,  when  the  Chief 
told  him  to  go,  aud  when  they  admit  that 
w^hen  a  man  dies  his  will  or  wishes  go 
for  nothing,  his  property  all  goes  to  the 
church,  —  can  I  doubt  that  here  is  a  despotism 
beyond  anything  elsewhere  in  the  world? 
He  becomes  offended  with  a  large  mercantile 
house  in  his  city ;  they  do  not  pay  as  much 
for  tithes  as  he  demands ;  he  excommuni- 
cates them  from  his  church.  He  then  opens 
what  he  calls  "  co-operative "  stores,  one  in 
every  ward  of  the  city,  with  the  blasphemous 
sign  over  each,  —  a  great  staring  Eye,  and 
"Holiness  to  the  Lord,"  in  large  letters.  To 
them,  this  blasphemy,  as  it  seems  to  me,  is 
religion.  Then  there  is  a  system  of  watching, 
espionage  over  everybody  and  everything. 
You  cannot  stay  in  the  city  three  days  with- 
out  feeling  that  you  are  watched;  the  air  is 
close,    you   cannot    breathe   easy;     hear    two 


192  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

strangers  talk  together,  and  you  will  soon  see 
some  one  cautiously  listening.  You  learn  to 
speak  low,  and  if  you  talk  with  a  resident, 
not  a  Mormon,  you  will  see  him  cautiously 
looking  around,  and  very  likely  getting  up 
and  closing  the  door ;  and  you  soon  get  to 
have  the  feeling,  that  were  you  to  speak  out, 
and  tell  just  the  impressions  that  are  made 
upon  you,  your  life  would  not  be  safe  for 
twenty-four  hours.  A  gentleman  who  resides 
among  them,  tells  me  that  this  is  true  in 
regard  to  himself;  and  not  a  Mormon  would 
dare  trade  at  any  other  store,  save  one  of 
the  "Mount  Zion  "  stores,  as  they  are  called. 
If  you  say  I  got  wrong  impressions,  and  was 
frightened  at  shadows,  I  have  only  to  say, 
that  I  tried  hard  to  get  right  impressions ; 
and  those  who  know  me  best,  do  not  believe 
I  am  often  frightened  at  shadows.  That  this 
power  is  wielded  so  as  to  keep  these  peo- 
ple in   perfect  subjection,  and   much  for  their 


GOVERNMENT   OF    THE    MORMONS.  193 

good,  I  do  not  deny ;  nay,  so  far,  praise  it ; 
but  it  is,  after  all,  a  despotism  which  native 
Americans  would  not  endure  a  single  month. 
And  this  is  one  of  the  elements  that  has 
given  strength  to  Mormonism.  The  stories 
about  the  murder  of  the  physician  at  the 
Sulphur  Spring,  the  secret  whispers  about  the 
presence  and  deeds  of  the  "  Destroying  An- 
gels," of  the  "  Danites,"  and  their  deeds  of 
darkness  when  they  come  in  the  form  and 
dress  of  Indians,  may  not  all  be  true ;  but 
they  are  received  as  truths,  and  convey  im- 
pressions about  the  government  there  which 
no  government  can  afford  to  have  believed. 

(b.)  My  impression  is,  that  this  people  are 
under  the  power  of  a  fanaticism  most  remark- 
able for  this  age  of  the  world.  When  they 
build  their  faith  and  hopes,  for  this  life  and 
the  next,  on  what  none  but  men  in  a  peculiar 
state  of  mind  can  believe,  I  call  it  fanaticism. 
For  example:  that  Smith,  in  1826,  dug  up 
13 


194  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

brass  plates  that  had  been  preserved  for  ages 
and  ages,  by  a  perpetual  miracle,  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  in  the  town  of  Palmyra ;  that  these 
plates,  so  ancient  that  nobody,  not  miracu- 
lously endowed,  could  read  the  language,  were 
found  ill  a  common,  coarse  box,  such  as  had 
been  used  for  window  glass;  that  Smith  in- 
terpreted them  with  a  stone  in  his  hat  and 
his  hat  drawn  over  his  face,  while  another  man 
MTote  down  the  revelation;  and  that  the  con- 
tents of  these  plates  filled  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon, —  taxe^  credulity  to  the  point-  of  fanati- 
cism. That  book  lies  before  me,  a  scries  of 
weak,  puerile  romances,  with  a  poor  imitation 
of  an  Eastern  dress  thrown  over  them,  without 
dates,  without  localities,  with  an  abundance 
of  names,  an  ape  of  Hebrew  names,  and  of 
the  style  of  the  Bible.  Nothing  but  fanati- 
cism can  swallow  such  stuff;  common  sense  is 
outraged  by  its  pretensions.  And  when  I 
hear,  as   I    did    hear,  the   Yice  President,  on 


FANATICISM.  195 

the  Sabbath,  declare  before  thousands,  that 
Brijrhain  Youns:  had  a  revelation  from  heaven 
which  introduced  polygamy,  and  when  I  hear 
him  further  declare  that  he  had  "  known  "  — 
(this  was  to  show  that  the  Mormons  are  the 
Latter  Day  Saints,  and  have  new  revelations), 
*'that  in  more  than  ten  thousand  instances  he 
had  known  the  sick  to  send  for  the  Apostles 
and  Elders,  and  they  had  gone  and  anointed 
them  with  oil,  and  prayed  for  them,  and  they 
all  recovered ^^*  I  can  only  say,  I  do  not  be- 
lieve it ;  and  I  do  not  believe  he  does ;  or,  if 
he  does,  he  is  under  the  full  power  of  fanat- 
icism. They  suffered  outrages  in  Missouri  and 
Illinois  which  I  deplore  and  condemn  with  ab- 
horrence ;  but  I  cannot  shut  my  eyes  to  the 
fact  that  the  whole  system  was  begotten  by  an 
arrant  impostor,  or  else  the  judgment  of  all 
the  rest  of  our  age  is  lost.  Let  me  add,  too, 
that  in  conversing  with  the  Mormons  you 
receive   the    impression  continually,  that   they 


196  THE    SUNSET    LAND. 

are  under  the  power  of  a  strange  spell.  It 
creates  an  unwavering  faith,  so  that  they  talk 
of  the  certainty  of  their  individual  salvation, 
when  you  feel  that,  at  the  very  time,  they  are 
living  in  the  habitual  violation  of  some  of  the 
plainest  precepts  of  the  Bible.  It  does  not 
alter  the  case,  that  they  have  suffered,  and 
are  willing  to  suffer,  for  their  belief.  Fanati- 
cism cannot  be  distinguished  from  religion,  if 
you  look  only  at  its  martyrs. 

On  arriving  at  a  certain  age,  all  the  youth, 
of  both  sexes,  are  baptized  publicly,  by  im- 
mersion, with  peculiar  rites ;  and  then  they 
have  what  is  called  the  "endowment"  sys- 
tem —  rooms  in  which  the  sexes,  at  the  right 
time,  are  initiated  into  the  secret  mysteries 
of  Mormonism. 

"Do  you  know,"  I  asked  a  shrewd  one  of 
the  creed,  "what  the  *  endowment '  system 
means  ?  " 

"Certainly  I  do." 


BAPTISING   FOR   THE   DEAD.  197 

"  Could  you  explain  it  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  I  could." 

"Will  you  be  good  enough  to  do  it?" 

"Why,"  said  he,  with  a. peculiar  twinkle 
of  the  eye,  "it  is  the  way  to  make  a  Mor- 
mon !  "  and  that  was  all  I  could  get  out  of  him. 
**  O  my  soul,  come  not  thou  into  their  secret ; 
unto  their  assembly,  mine  honor,  be  not  thou 
united." 

But  there  is  a  step  beyond  this ;  they  also 
are  "  baptized  for  the  dead,"  on  this  wise : 
You  are  a  Mormon;  you  have  had  a  parent, 
an  uncle,  an  aunt,  or  some  other  dear  rela- 
tive, who  died  before  the  Latter  Day  Dispen- 
sation, or,  at  all  events,  without  becoming  a 
Mormon.  You  now  come  forward  as  the  proxy 
of  that  relative,  are  baptized  again,  and  in 
heaven  this  is  credited  to  your  friends,  and 
insures  their  salvation.  How  many  you  may 
thus  deliver  from  purgatory,  or  raise  up  to 
higher  glQiy,  and   how   often   the    charm   will 


198  THE   SUNSET    LAND. 

work,  I  do  not  know.  You  may  say  they  are 
honest  in  all  this ;  it  may  be  so,  but  it  is  the 
darkest  fanaticism,  notwithstanding. 

(c.)  It  is  a  system  of  irresponsible  power; 
no  one  knows  the  secrets  of  the  ledger.  But 
through  our  whole  nation,  Brigham  Young  is 
supposed  to  be  the  richest  man  in  the  United 
States.  In  the  first  place,  accountable  to  no- 
body, not  even  to  tell  what  becomes  of  the 
money,  there  are  the  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  dollars  for  the  use  of  water;  there 
is  so  much  for  the  surveying  of  every  lot 
sold ;  and  then  there  are  "  tithing-houses,"  one 
or  more  in  every  city  and  village  of  the  one 
hundred  and  thirty  towns.  In  these  is  gath- 
ered annually  one  tenth  of  all  that  the  groiuid 
yields,  of  all  that  every  man  or  woman  raises 
by  skill,  by  labor,  by  trade,  by  mechanics,  or 
any  other  method  ;  not  one  tenth  of  the  gains, 
but  one  tenth  part  of  all  that  human  industry 
produces.     I  need  not  say  that  this  sum  must 


IRRESPONSIBLE    TOWER.  199 

be  enormous.  You  receive  the  impression 
tlitit  Brigham  Young  owns  the  whole,  the 
soil,  the  machinery,  the  industry,  the  cattle, 
and  all  the  Mormons  besides ;  and  practically 
ho  does.  As  he  is  a  prophet,  inspired  of 
heaven,  he  can  do  no  wrong,  and  is  too  sa- 
cred to  be  questioned ;  and  as  President  and 
Governor,  he  has  the  power  of  handling  the 
property  as  he  pleases.  The  question  is  not, 
whether  he  is  the  most  honest  man  in  the  world 
or  not,  but  whether  he  has  not  an  irresponsi- 
ble power,  such  as  is  safe  in  no  man's  hands. 
I  do  not  take  or  receive  the  things  that  are 
said*  and  printed  about  him,  and  language  said 
to  fall  from  his  lips,  for  they  would  not  be 
endured  to  be  repeated  here ;  but  I  take  ithe 
great  and  admitted  facts  of  his  position,  and 
say  that  if  he  does  not  abuse  human  nature, 
and  wrench  from  toil  and  poverty  enough  to 
make  him  rich  beyond  all  other  men,  it  is  not 
for  want  of  opportunity,  or  power,   or  temp- 


200  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

tation  to  do  it.  I  am  sure  I  don't  know  any 
other  man  who  would  not,  as  I  should  fear,  be 
overcome  by  a  temptation  so  great. 

(d.)  I  regard  the  Mormon  system  as  a  system 
of  insupportable  licentiousness.  It  is  well 
known  not  only  that  Polygamy  is  allowed,  but  is 
woven  into  their  religion,  and  sanctioned  there- 
by as  the  perfection  of  all  religion.  They 
not  only  have  a  plurality  of  wives,  but,  like 
the  Indians  in  owning  horses,  seem  to  feel  that 
they  are  to  be  esteemed  and  honored  in  pro- 
portion to  the  number  they  have.  In  the  first 
house  I  entered,  the  man  has  five  wives.  The 
man  at  the  house  at  which  we  stopped,  has 
four ;  the  first  seemed  to  be  grieving  and  hid- 
ing in  her  chamber,  the  second  waiting  on  the 
public  tables,  the  third  taking  care  of  her  baby, 
and  the  fourth  playing  honey-moon.  In  the 
same  street  lives  a  man  who  has  four  wives, 
the  mother  and  her  three  daughters  ! 

We  were  told  that  Young  has  three  daughters, 


MANY    WIVES.  201 

all  the  wives  of  one  man.  I  talked  with  an 
Apostle  who  has  but  live  wives,  and  twenty-four 
children.  I  saw  a  Bishop  who  has  nine  wives, 
and  one  of  three  councillors  who  has  nine,  and 
children,  €  don't  know  how  many.  By  no 
possible  means  can  you  learn  how  many  wives 
Brigham  Young  has,  even  if  he  knows  himself; 
and  they  do  not  hesitate  to  say  he  does  not 
always  know  his  own  children.  It  was  a  mat- 
ter of  wonder  to  me  how  a  man  could  support 
so  many  wives.  I  told  them  it  put  us  upon 
the  strain  to  support  one.  But  their  reply  was, 
that  their  wives  supported  themselves :  they 
make  gloves,  knit,  dry  figs,  peaches,  and  apples, 
put  up  garden  seeds,  spin  and  Aveave  linen, 
and  are  always  busy  about  something  that  will 
yield  a  little.  But  if  you  think,  as  a  commu- 
nity, these  wives  have  many  fashionable  bon- 
nets, many  silk  dresses,  many  gold  watches, 
or  rich  furs,  a  single  glance  over  the  assembly, 
when  they  are  gathered  together,  will  undeceive 


202  THE   SUNSET   LAND. 

you.  Their  rule  is,  when  the  husband  takes 
a  second  wife,  the  first  wife  shall  solemifly 
give  her  husband  away  to  the  new  wife,  and 
so  she  to  the  thu-d ;  and  so  on  through  the  list. 
If  you  ask  if  this  is  done  cheerfully^  they  will 
tell  you.  Yes.  I  say  I  don't  believe  it !  It 
is  not  human  nature,  nor  woman's  nature,  to 
do  so,  and  all  the  testimony  in  the  world  would 
not  convince  me  to  the  contrary.  I  questioned 
one  of  the  Apostles  on  this  point,  and  his 
reply  was,  "  O,  our  wives  understand  this, 
and  do  it." 

"  Yes ;  but  suppose  the  wife  don't  want  to 
do  it  — Avhat  then?" 

''  O,  the  man  is  the  glory  of  the  woman,  and 
this  glory  is  not  to  be  tarnished  by  the  notions 
of  the  woman." 

Then,  when  you  know  what  the  human  heart 
is,  and  when  you  know  of  the  case  in  point, 
where  the  second  wife  went  to  get  the  first 
wife  to  join  with  her  to  prevent  the  coming  in 


MARRYING    BY    PROXY.  203 

of  the  third  wife,  and  receiving  the  answer, 
"  No  !  you  broke  my  heart,  and  I  don't  care 
how  soon  yours  is  broken,"  you  arc  more  than 
certain  that  the  instincts  of  woman's  heart  must 
be  eradicated  or  killed  before  she  can  ever  sub- 
mit to  a  degradation  so  terrible. 

Add  to  this,  their  "marrying  by  proxy;" 
i.  e.,  like  the  baptism  described,  as  a  matter 
of  religion,  a  man  marries,  and  raises  up  a 
family  of  children,  not,  forsooth,  because  he 
wants  to,  but  so  as  to  have  this  wife  and  chil- 
dren passed  over  to  some  relative  or  kinsman 
in  the  next  world,  who  was  so  unfortunate  as 
to  have  but  one  wife  in  this  world ;  and  thus 
they  become  his  crown  of  glory !  If  you 
don't  call  that  charity  "in  the. long  run,"  pray 
what  is  it?     Abomination,    if  not   charity! 

The  fact  is,  these  second,  third,  and  ninth 
wives  are  nothing  but  concubines,  and  they 
very  well  know  it.  A  well-dressed  woman, 
and  one  who  had  been  highly  educated,  came 


204  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

to  me,  and  introduced  herself  as  "Mrs.  Cobb, 
from  Boston ; "  and  then  went  on  to  tell  me 
how  she  had  forsaken  her  husband  and  chil- 
dren, and  come  away  from  them,  when  her 
eyes  became  opened  to  see  the  spirituality  of 
Mormonism.  This  shameful  tale  she  called 
"bearing  testimony  to  a  Massachusetts  Minis- 
ter." I  afterwards  learned  that  she  is  one  of 
Brigham  Young's  wives,  or  concubines,  —  not 
calling  herself  Mrs.  Young,  but  "Mrs.  Cobb." 
You  will  want  to  know  how  such  a  fifth  or 
ninth  part  of  a  wife  looks  and  acts.  I  reply, 
the  elder  women  look  sad  and  worn,  as  if  the 
path  had  been  and  is  a  weary  one,  —  a  path 
of  thorns  and  disappointments,  —  and  when 
age  creeps  on,  and  they  have  to  reap  neglect, 
—  being  not  now  necessary  to  the  husband, 
even  from  habit,  —  solitary  and  alone,  with 
nothing  divine  to  support  or  cheer  them.  The 
young  women  look  as  they  are,  brazen-faced 
and  stupidly  bold  —  very  much  as  wrong-doers 


WANTING   IN   PURITY.  205 

of  their  sex  appear  in  every  part  of  the  world. 
As  for  that  purity  which  William  Hcpworth 
Dixon  ascribes  to  -them,  and  which  they  claim, 
I  have  only  to  say,  that  the  Gentiles  who  dwell 
there,  and  know  them  well,  scout  at  the  idea ; 
and  if  you  want  further  evidence,  go  into  their 
market-house,  and  you  will  hear  language  from 
these  young  Mormon  women,  which,  for  ob- 
scenity and  vileness,  can  hardly  be  equalled  in 
the  vilest  alley  in  New  York.  It  would  take  a 
great  amount  of  rhetoric  to  make  you  forget 
what  you  may  there  hear  in  half  an  hour. 

As  for  their  plea  that  this  system  is  in  the 
order  of  nature,  and  it  would  be  a  blessing 
to  introduce  it  into  Massachusetts,  where  we 
have  so  many  more  females  than  males,  let 
me  simply  say  that  if  the  system  were  not  ab- 
horrent to  the  Bible  and  to  the  best  instincts  of 
our  nature,  the  fact  that  in  India,  where  polyg- 
amy prevails,  and  has  done  so  for  generations, 
and    in    Mormondom,   where   it    prevails,    the 


206  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

females  born  are  altogether  out  of  all  propor- 
tion to  the  males,  and  that,  were  the  system  to 
prevail  during  a  few  generations,  the  disparity 
of  the  sexes  would  be  still  greater,  and  the  evil 
sought  to  be  remedied,  greatly  increased. 

What  will  be  the  end' of  these  thin<rs?  Will 
Mormonism,  increased  continually  by  emigra- 
tion, be  perpetual?  Or  how  will  it  terminate? 
It  is  very  plain  that  we  cannot,  and  shall  not, 
persecute  a  hundred  thousand  people  ;  we  shall 
not  make  war  upon  their  homes.  •  But  as  for 
receiving  a  community,  almost  every  leading 
member  of  whom  we  should  shut  up  in  the 
penitentiary,  if  they  should  come  here  and 
do  as  they  do  there,  into  the  sisterhood  of 
States  —  we  never  shall  do  that.  Mormonism 
is  a  blotch  on  the  civilization  of  this  age,  a 
mockery  of  the  affections  of  the  human  heart, 
a  caricature  of  the  family  relation,  and  a  bur- 
lesque on  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ. 

They  are  building  a  railroad  to  join  the  Pa- 


brigham's  assurance.  207 

cific  Railroad  at  Ogclen,  forty  miles.  I  hope  it 
Avill  be  like  the  hole  which  the  Irishman  dug 
into  his  cellar  —  "good  to  let  the  darkness  out, 
and  the  light  in."  Isolated  as  they  were  in 
their  mountain  valley,  they  might  have  lived 
longer,  had  not  the  iron  horse  climbed  over  the 
mountains  and  snorted  at  their  door.  They 
can't  keep  their  people  there.  As  for  the 
vauntings  of  Brigham  Young,  that  he  wdll  re- 
sist the  United  States  authority  as  much  and  as 
long  as  he  pleases,  he  is  too  shrewd  a  fellow  not 
to  know  better.  He  tried  the  patience  of  the 
country  once,  when  he  built  and  armed  forts  in 
the  Echo  Canon  to  resist  our  troops,  and  when 
our  General  actually  treated  with  him,  and 
aofreed  that  if  he  would  oro  home  and  call  off 
his  men,  he  would  not  pitch  his  tents  within 
fifty  miles  of  Salt  Lake  City !  He  tried  the 
patience  of  our  country  in  resisting  the  United 
States  courts  and  their  operations,  when  by  his 
influence  he  kept  a  Mormon  jury  from  render- 


208  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

ing  a  righteous  and  legal  verdict.  The  Judge 
kept  them  before  him  and  at  work  on  that  ver- 
dict eleven  months,  and  then,  from  sheer  ex- 
haustion, had  to  discharge  them,  and  justice 
had  to  fall  in  the  streets  !  Nor  will  the  country 
forget  that  at  this  very  hour,  he  is  setting  the 
authority  of  the  United  States  at  defiance,  in 
creating,  by  his  Legislature,  and  at  his  bid- 
ding, "a  Court  of  Probate,"  and  declaring  it 
" co-ordinate  "  with  the  "United  States  Court." 
Instead  of  having  the  United  States  Marshal 
select  the  grand  and  traverse  juries,  as  is  law, 
and  as  is  done  in  other  territories,  his  Mormon 
court  makes  the  selection  and  appointment,  and 
thus  the  United  States  court  plays  second  fiddle 
to  the  Mormon  "Probate  Court."  I  don't  be- 
lieve Congress  knows  that  such  a  game  is  now 
being  played. 

A  little  out  of  the  city,  up  on  the  edge  of  the 
foot-hills,  is  "  Camp  Douglas,"  and  there  are 
United    States  troops,  commanded   by  a   most 


WILL   MORMONISM    CONTINUE?  209 

judicious,  gentlemanly,  as  well  as  brave,  Gen- 
eral. He  knows  very  well  that  he  is  there  as  a 
little  army  of  observation,  a  kind  of  moral 
power.  And  he  knows,  and  Young  knows  also, 
that  after  the  terrible  conflict  we  have  had  to 
establish  the  supremacy  of  our  government, 
rebellion  will  never  again  be  allowed ;  and  that 
the  first  motions  of  resistance  to  this  govern- 
ment which  Young  makes,  will  recoil  and  crush 
him.  Time,  moving  on,  creating  public  opin- 
ion, will  sweep  Morrnonism  away.  While 
isolated  in  the  deep  valley,  everywhere  shut 
away  by  great  deserts,  a  thousand  miles  from 
mankind,  they  could  uphold  their  anomalous 
community  ;  but  the  railroads  have  brought  the 
world  to  them,  and  their  mines  will  be  sought 
and  opened,  and  commerce  and  business  will 
compete  with  their  attempts  to  shut  them  away 
by  high-handed  laws.  There  is  no  great,  bright 
future  for  Mormonism.  It  is  like  one  of  those 
poisonous  mushrooms  that  spring  up  in  the 
14 


210  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

night,  which  men  shim,  and  which  die  away,  no- 
body knows  or  cares  how.  The  instincts  of  the 
heart,  the  experience  of  the  past,  the  civilization 
of  the  present,  the  spirit  of  this  century,  and 
the  plam  teachings  of  the  Bible,  are  all  against 
it.  There  are  not  enough  unbalanced  minds 
created,  who  can  get  together,  and  long  hold 
together,  or  make  a  great  community.  My  own 
firm  impression  is,  that  Brigham  Young  will 
shortly  have  a  revelation  that  polygamy  is  no 
longer  to  be  permitted.  And  the  sooner  he  re- 
ceives this  revelation,  the  better.  My  honest 
belief  too,  is,  that  there  is  not  a  woman  among 
them  who  is  not  conscious  of  degradation,  and 
who  would  not  exult  at  deliverance,  and  who  is 
not  a  victim  of  the  deepest  shame,  even  though 
they  try  to  make  her  believe  that  her  shame- 
less life  is  sanctioned  by  religion,  and  that  her 
heaven  will  be  glorious  in  proportion  as  she 
ministers  to  the  lust  of  the  other  sex  here. 
God  has  created  the  world,  and  put  it  under 


WHAT   WILL   DESTROY    IT?  211 

certain  laws,  on  the  obeying  or  breaking  of 
which,  our  happiness  or  misery  depends.  In 
Eden,  when  and  where  he  created  man  in  the 
fulness  of  happiness  and  perfection,  he  gave  man 
and  woman  to  each  other  —  one  husband  and 
one  wife.  These,  with  their  children,  make  the 
family,  the  home.  And  whoever,  in  his  wisdom 
or  in  his  wickedness,  tries  to  be  wiser  than  this, 
will  find  that  he  is  wrestling  against  the  eternal 
laws  which  God  has  ordained,  and  he  can  never 
succeed.  God  will  vindicate  his  own  wisdom. 
Silently  and  secretly  he  puts  causes  in  opera- 
tion which  men  cannot  detect  or  counteract,  and 
which  bring  down  our  Babels,  which  undermine 
our  strongholds,  and  which  mock  our  wisdom. 
I  pretend  not  to  say  in  what  manner  the  power 
will  come,  which  will  make  this  horrible  system 
of  open  licentiousness  to  be  a  thing  of  the  past ; 
but  that  it  is  on  the  way,  I  have  no  doubt. 
Outraged  decency  will  demand  redress.  Open 
defiance  of  the  piety  of  the  earth  and  the  will 


212  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

of  God  will  meet  a  rebuke  that  will  bring  it  to 
nought,  and  this  stain  upon  our  name,  this 
plague-spot  of  Sodom,  that  makes  a  great 
nation  blush,  will  be  removed.  And  may  God 
speed  the  day. 


A   RETROSPECT.  213 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    HIGHWAY    OF   NATIONS,    OR     THE    CONTINEN- 
TAL  RAILROADS. 

Let  us  go  back  twenty  years.  Then  the 
cry  of  "  gold,"  "  gold,"  on  the  Pacific,  had  nmg 
through  the  land.  Ships  were  urging  their  way 
around  Cape  Horn,  and  emigrants  were  throng- 
ing their  way  westward,  regardless  of  comfort, 
and  even  of  life.  Over  the  burning  deserts,  over 
the  snowy  Nevadas,  down  into  the  deep  canons 
they  poured.  In  a  single  summer  the  over- 
land emigration  Was  estimated  at  thirty  thou- 
sand people,  and  with  their  cattle,  computed  at 
one  hundred  thousand,  and  their  wagons,  would 
have  made  a  continuous  train  of  more  than 
seven  hundred  miles  in  length !  It  took  six 
months  to  go  from  the  Missouri  to  California, 


214  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

—  a  journey  of  the  most  intense  suffering  to 
men  and  to  animals,  from  hunger,  and  still 
more  from  thirst.  It  is  estimated  that  the 
wagon-freights  across  the  mountains,  before  the 
commencement  of  the  railroad,  amounted  to  full 
thirteen  million  dollars  in  a  single  year. 

If  the  emigrant  was  caught  out  in  the  winter, 
it  took  him  five  months  longer,  and  with  suffer- 
ings and  dangers  still  increased. 

In  ten  years  after  gold  was  discovered,  Cali- 
fornia gained  three  times  as  large  a  population 
as  the  entire  nation  did  the  first  sixty-eight 
years  after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  on 
Plymouth  Rock.  A  very  great  part  of  this 
overland  route  was  over  the  great  deserts, 
where  there  were  no  towns  to  supply  wants, 
no  tree  to  shade  the  weary,  and  for  hundreds 
of  miles,  no  water  but  the  intolerable  alkali 
water,  for  man  or  for  beast.  Though,  in  the 
midst  of  these  deseits,  sharp,  flinty,  naked 
rocks,  shot  up  by  volcanoes,  are  seen  here  and 


PRIVATIONS   OF   EMIGRANTS.  215 

there,  yet  they  only  make  the  landscape  the 
more  dreary.  As  the  emigrant  crept  along, 
from  ten  to  twenty  miles  a  day,  under  the 
burning  sun,  and  in  the  cloud  of  alkaline  dust 
which  his  team  made,  the  scene  grew  more 
awful  as  he  went  westward. 

One  man,  who  had  thus  passed,  twenty  years 
ago,  told  us  that  he  walked  alone  thirty  miles 
for  one  drink  of  water;  and  Dr.  Harkness,  of 
Sacramento,  told  us  that  he  actually  walked 
sixty  miles  to  find  a  drink  of  water,  and  then 
could  get  only  a  spoonful  at  a  time.  All  along 
on  this  alkaline  region,  often  white  as  chalk, 
you  still  see  the  bones  of  cattle,  forsaken 
wagons,  chains,  kettles,  and  the  like,  strung 
along  the  trail  of  the  emigrant.  When  these 
poor  wanderers  came  in  sight  of  Truckee  River, 
the  men  and  women  would  raise  a  shout  of  joy, 
and  the  poor  cattle  would  gather  up  their  re- 
maining strength,  and  rush  into  the  stream, — 
maddened  and  uncontrollable. 


216  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

When  they  reached  the  pass  through  which 
they  were  to  make  a  path  over  the  Nevada 
Mountains,  and  as  they  came  to  the  broAV  of 
the  mountain,  till  they  reached  the  valleys  of 
the  Golden  State,  they  had  to  let  their  wagons 
down  the  mountain  side  by  ropes  coiled  around 
the  trees,  and  thus,  step  by  step,  and  tree  by 
tree,  they  let  their  wagons  down;  the  trees 
showing  to  this  day  the  cuts  of  the  ropes 
through  the  bark,  and  often  into  the  wood. 

What  with  building  bridges  and  rafts  to  get 
over  the  streams,  making  paths  on  the  inoun- 
tain  side,  where  no  path  was,  —  what  with 
watching  against  the  inroads  of  the  Indians  by 
night,  and  what  with  hunger,  and  thirst,  and 
sickness,  and  deaths,  we  need  not  wonder  that 
it  was  a  formidable  thing  to  emigrate  to  Cali- 
fornia. And  yet,  what  a  magnet  w^as  gold  to 
draw  them  there ! 

In  1846,  just  twenty-three  years  ago,  when 
Fremont   was    making    his    explorations    over 


JOHN    PLUMBE.  217 

these  desolate  regions,  and  was  burying  his 
faithful  Indian  guide,  "  Truckee,"  on  the  banks 
of  the  river  that  now  bears  his  name,  and  at 
a  spot  where  the  town  '*  Truckee  "  now  stands, 
there  was  a  Welshman  at  Dubuque,  Iowa,  by 
the  name  of  John  Plumbe  (educated  in  our 
country) ,  who  began  to  talk  and  write  about  a 
railroad  from  the  Great  Lakes,  across  the  con- 
tinent, to  Oregon  and  the  Pacific  Ocean.  He 
was  an  engineer  by  profession.  When  he  first 
broached  the  subject,  there  was  scarcely  any 
railroad,  and  only  a  very  thin  population, 
west  of  Ohio.  Chicago  was  a  little,  ifnknown 
village  in  the  centre  of  a  vast,  unoccupied 
prairie.  No  railroad  had  been  made  between 
the  Atlantic  and  the  great  basin  of  the  inte- 
rior. A  few  trappers  and  hordes  of  Indians 
seemed  to  claim  all  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
West  of  the  population,  lay  an  unknown  land 
of  two  thousand  three  hundred  miles,  over 
which  the   dream-railroad   of   Plumbe   was   to 


218  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

traverse ;  unsealed  mountains,  awful  deserts, 
and  wide  rivers  lay  between  the  basin  of  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Pacific.  Yet  never,  till 
the  day  of  his  death,  did  Plumbe  relinquish 
his  favorite  plan,  and  he  actually  lived  to  see 
his  dream  being  wrought  into  reality.  Asa 
Whitney  was  the  next  earnest  and  great  toiler 
to  start  the  enterprise,  and  did  more  than  any 
other  man  to  make  the  nation  think  whether 
the  thing  were  possible. 

When  our  friends  in  California  came  to  un- 
derstand that  they  were  to  stay  there,  find 
their  homes  there,  build  up  a  great  city  and 
State  there ;  that  they  were  five  thousand  miles 
from  the  East,  and  it  took  nearly  a  month  to 
get  to  or  from  New  York,  and  forty  cents  to 
get  a  letter;  and  that  they  were,  in  case  of  a 
foreign  war,  peculiarly  exposed,  —  they  began 
to  move  in  the  matter  of  testing  the  practi- 
cability of  a  railroad  across  the  continent. 
When    it    was    brought    before    Congress,    in 


THE    PACIFIC    RAILROAD.  219 

whatever  shape  it  came,  the  South  were  a  unit 
against  it.  They  had  already  laid  their  plans 
to  divide  the  country  into  three  parts,  the 
North,  the  South,  and  the  West.  In  that 
case,  California,  with  its  virgin  soil  and  trop-\-/ 
ical  climate,  would  fall  to  them ;  but  if  a  rail- 
road were  built,  it  would  most  naturally  con- 
nect the  Pacific  with  the  arena  of  freedom. 
Hence,  it  was  not  till  the  young  State  had 
grown  up  into  manhood,  and  not  till  we  were 
actually  involved  in  the  late  war,  that  our 
government  felt  the  importance  of  having  a 
railroad  connecting  the  West  with  the  rest  of 
the  continent,  so  that,  in  case  of  a  new  war, 
we  could  get  to  them.  The  war  seems  to 
have  been  the  weight  that  turned  the  scale. 
Hence  it  was,  that  though  the  ground  had 
been  thoroughly  surveyed  in  1853  and  1854, 
the  government  had  not  felt  ready  to  take 
hold  of  it.  Congress  had,  however,  appropri- 
ated two   hundred  and  forty  thousand   dollars 


220  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

for  surveys,  and  six  surveying  parties  were 
sent  out  in  1853,  and  three  more  in  1854, 
composed  almost  entirely  of  men  belonging 
to  the  corps  of  topographical  engineers,  among 
whom  was  General  George  B.  McClellan. 
These  parties  surveyed  ten  diflferent  routes,  be- 
ginning at  Fulton,  Arkansas,  up  to  Minnesota 
on  the  east,  and  from  San  Diego  to  Puget 
Sound,  Washington  Territory,  on  the  west. 
These  surveys  were  carefully  and  elaborately 
reported  and  published  in  thirteen  quite  thick 
quarto  volumes,  and  very  beautifully  illustrat- 
ed by  drawings.  Let  us  now  briefly  follow 
the  middle  route,  or  the  one  finally  adopted. 
The  surveying  party,  which  we  will  now  join 
in  imagination,  start  at  Omaha,  on  the  Mis- 
souri River,  nine  hundred  and  eight  feet 
above  tide-water,  passing  through  the  valley 
of  the  Platte  River,  crossing  it  once,  till  they 
reach  the  highest  summit  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, Sherman,   eight   thousand    four   hundred 


ECHO   CANON.  221 

and  twenty-four  tibove  the  ocean.  This  is 
the  highest  point  in  all  the  survey ;  but  the 
rise  has  been  so  gradual,  that  you  can't 
realize  that  you  are  on  the  summit  of  the 
Continent. 

You  now  pass  over  what  is  mostly  a  desert 
plateau,  four  hundred  and  twenty-one  miles,  to 
Echo  Canon,  from  five  thousand  to  seven  thou- 
sand five  hundred  feet  elevation.  You  begin  to 
understand  what  a  desert  means.  It  is  a  pla- 
teau, once  the  bottom  of  an  ocean,  heaved  up 
by  volcanic  agency,  while  here  and  there  in  it,  is 
a  sharp  thrusting  up  of  rocks  in  ridges,  looking 
as  if  they  belonged  to  some  world,  worn  out, 
and  left.  Passing  through  that  Avonderful  place. 
Echo  Canon,  on  each  side  of  which  the  moun- 
tains rise  to  a  grand  and  even  awful  height, 
bare,  crumbling,  decaying,  now  composed  of 
pudding-stone,  filled  with  holes  like  a  honey- 
comb, now  blushing  red  with  red  sandstone, 
here  and  there  rocks  left  standing,  looking  like 


222  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

forts,  or  towers,  or  churches,  or  men  and  wo- 
men turned  into  stone  and  standmg  in  groups, 
and  now  a  curious  place,  rocks  perhaps  five  feet 
thick,  thrust  up,  thirty  feet  high,  twenty  apart, 
and  extending  parallel  up  the  mountain  eight 
hundred  feet.  This  is  called  the  "Devil's 
Slide."  And  then  you  come  to  a  place  where 
the  River  Weber  rushes  out  of  the  canon  at  a 
spot  wh^re  the  mountains  close  up  together, 
giving  space  that  must  be  enlarged  by  tunnels 
and  a  bridge  to  let  the  railroad  out  and  over 
the  fierce,  maddened  Weber  River.  This  is 
called  the  "Devil's  Gate."  You  now  enter 
another  plateau,  about  five  hundred  milea  in 
extent,  but  ribbed  with  naked  mountains,  rising 
from  five  thousand  to  seven  thousand  feet. 
This  second  and  last  plateau  brings  you  to  the 
Sierra  Nevada  Mountains.  Where  you  cross 
over  this  lofty  ridge,  at  the  pass,  near  Donner 
Lake,  is  seven  thousand  and  sixty -two  feet 
above  the  sea.      You   must  now  descend   two 


THE   SURVEY   COMPLETED.  223 

thousand  five  hundred  and  seventeen  feet  in  the 
next  fifty  miles.  In  the  next  ninety-eight  miles 
you  must  descend  six  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  sixty-six  feet  more.  You  are  now  over  and 
in  the  valley  of  the  Sacramento.  This  was  the 
path  marked  out,  when,  in  1862,  Congress 
passed  the  Pacific  Railroad  Bill,  to  connect  the 
Atlantic  and  the  Pacific. 

At  that  time,  the  ^ve  hundred  miles  from 
Chicago  to  Omaha  had  to  be  built  by  private 
enterprise,  in  order  to  connect  the  two  systems, 
this  ^ve  hundred  miles  being  not  before  con- 
structed. 

Having  "  surveyed "  the  route,  let  us  now 
build  the  two  roads,  the  one  commencing  at  the 
Missouri  and  the  other  at  Sacramento.  We  will 
begin  at  our  end.  You  notice  a  great  number 
of  huge  cast-iron  tubes  lying  on  the  banks  of 
the  river.  Those  are  to  be  used  in  constructing 
the  great  bridge,  not  yet  built.  Those  hollow 
tubes  are  seventy  feet  long  and  eight  feet  in 


224  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

diameter.  They  are  to  stand,  one  below  low- 
water  mark,  and  the  other  above  it,  most  firmly 
riveted  together.  This  will  give  each  tube  one 
hundred  and  forty  feet  in  length.  They  are  to 
be  placed,  eighteen  in  number,  and  weighing 
two  thousand  five  hundred  tons,  upright,  and 
then  all  the  water  is  to  be  pumped  out,  and 
then  each  filled  with  solid  masonry.  The  ex- 
pense will  be  two  million  dollars,  and  it  may 
take  them  two  years  yet  to  complete  it.  And 
now,  under  the  iron  energy  and  indomitable  will 
of  our  own  townsman,  Thomas  C.  Durant,  the 
men,  the  materials,  the  teams,  the  tools,  the 
ties,  and  the  rails,  begin  to  accumulate  at 
Omaha.  Eighteen  thousand  men  and  six  thou- 
sand teams  are  ready.  At  first,  everything,  even 
their  locomotives,  have  to  be  brought  from  one 
to  two  hundred  miles  on  wagons,  the  railroad 
from  Chicago  not  being  built.  Every  mile  re- 
quires six  hundred  tons  of  rail.  The  ties  are 
laid  quite  near  to  each  other,  being  two  thou- 


BUILDING    THE    ROAD.  225 

sand  six  hundred  and  fifty  ties  to  a  mile,  while 
our  roads  in  this  part  of  the  country  average 
but  one  thousand  seven  hundred  to  the  mile. 
There  is  no  timber,  not  even  a  tree,  on  the 
route,  and  the  ties  must  be  collected  from  six 
different  States  and  two  Territories.  Every  rail 
is  riveted  on  both  sides  with  the  next,  with 
wrought  iron  plates.  For  the  first  five  or  six 
hundred  miles,  the  road  is  so  straight,  that  as 
you  look  back  or  forward  between  the  tele- 
grap"h  poles,  it  seems  as  if  you  were  looking 
between  tw^o  streets. 

More  than  fifty  temporary  bridges  have  to  be 
built,  while  the  permanent  ones  are  being  care- 
fully and  strongly  made,  at  Chicago.  One  of 
these  bridges,  the  North  Platte,  two  hundred 
and  eighty-two  miles  west  of  Omaha,  is  to  be 
of  iron,  three  thousand  feet  loAg,  estimated  at 
a  cost  of  one  million  dollars. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  rough,  strange 
camp  life  of  the  workmen.  Cars  containing 
15 


226  THE    SUNSET   LAND, 

provisions,  cooking  apparatus,  and  beds  for 
these  eighteen  thousand  men,  supply  their 
wants.  Tents,  like  those  of  an  army,  also  ac- 
company the  working  multitude.  The  greater 
part  of  the  workmen  have  been  soldiers  in  the 
war,  and  are  accustomed  to  habits  of  obedience 
and  camp  life.  Nine  out  of  ten  of  all  the  work- 
men had  been  in  the  army.  They  had  learned 
to  love  out-of-door  life,  and  were  initiated  to 
hardships.  They  knew  how  to  burrow  their 
temporary  houses  in  the  most  sheltered  spots. 
They  laid  down  the  sleepers,  having  first  graded 
the  ground  fifty  miles'  ahead,  spike  down  the 
rails,  rivet  them,  and  press  on  from  two  to  four 
miles  a  day.  The  whole  thing  must  be  so  man- 
aged that  there  shall  be  no  waiting  for  timber, 
ties,  or  rails.  When  all  ready,  four  rails  were 
drawn  from  the  cars,  and  laid  in  their  places  in 
a  minute.  Ten  spikes  to  a  rail,  and  three 
blows  upon  the  spike,  and  four  hundred  rails 
to  the  mile,   and  twenty-one   million  of  times 


BUILDING   THE   ROAD.  227 

must  these  ponderous  hammers  fall  upon  the 
spike  heads,  before  the  road  is  done  ! 

So  they  gradually  rise  up,  ninety-two  feet 
to  the  mile,  from  Cheyenne  to  the  summit  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  when  they  chisel  a  path 
through,  and  press  onward.  Men  from  all 
countries  and  nations  are  among  the  workmen. 
They  are  beyond  laws  and  magistrates,  civil 
officers,  and  restraints  of  civilized  society. 
Worse  than  all,  the  gamblers,  the  cutthroats, 
the  convicts  escaped  from  prisons,  the  vilest 
and  the  most  atrocious  men  and  women,  con- 
gregate where  are  fifteen  or  eighteen  thousand 
men,  each  receiving  four  dollars  a  day. 

When  a  point  is  taken  for  a  new  terminus, 
say  fifty  or  eighty  miles  ojff,  these  rascals  rush 
there,  lay  out  the  tent  city,  open  their  grog- 
shops, filled  with  the  vilest  stuff"  that  ever 
entered  a  man's  throat,  open  their  gambling- 
houses,  their  theatres,  and  their  hell-houses, 
filled   with   shameless   women ;    and   they  now 


228  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

proceed  to  organize  a  city  government,  elect 
their  own  men  to  the  office  of  Marshal  and  the 
like,  and  by  the  time  the  workmen  get  there, 
they  have  everything  their  own  way.  They 
would  rob  and  garrote  a  man  for  ten  dollars. 
The  consequence  was,  that  violence  and  lawless- 
ness had  to  be  met  with  their  own'  weapons. 
Every  man  was  expected  to  carry  at  least  one 
revolver..  The  workmen  had,  in  self-defence, 
to  form  Vigilance  Committees,  and  make  and 
execute  law.  They  would  spot  these  villains, 
and  when  any  one's  cup  was  full,  would  send  an 
armed  band  into  the  gambling  or  drinking  sa- 
loon, march  him  quietly  out,  impanel  a  jury,  try 
him,  give  him  an  hour  or  two  to  prepare  for 
death,  and  before  morning  light  he  was  hanged. 
As  many  as  twelve  have  been  found  thus  sus- 
pended in  a  single  camp,  in  a  single  night.  At 
the  Idaho  mines,  one  hundred  and  twenty  of 
these  cutthroats  were  thus  hanged  in  three 
months.     At    two   places,   at  which    our   train 


VIGILANCE   COMMITTEES.  229 

stopped,  oil  two  successive  nights,  a  man  was 
murdered  at  each  place,  and  was  buried  before 
breakfast  in  the  morning,  without  judge  or  jury. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  say  how  many  murders 
were  committed,  or  how  many  the  Vigilance 
Committee  avenged.  Probably  they  hanged 
very  few  who  were  not  murderers.  The  rope 
was  the  only  thing  the  villains  feared.  When 
an  inquiry  was  made  about  any  one  so  disposed 
of,  they  would  say,  "  I  understood  he  broke  his 
neck  in  climbing  a  tree." 

A  curious  feature,  unprecedented  in  railroad 
making,  was,  that  the  Printing  press  accompa- 
nied the  working  trains,  and  three  daily  papers 
were  constantly  issued  !  These  temporary  cities, 
built  of  cloth,  or,  at  best,  a  few  boards  and  a 
cloth  roof,  would  have  drug-shops,  whiskey- 
saloons,  and  all  manner  of  goods  ;  the  occupants 
paying  from  fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand 
dollars  to  the  railroad  company  for  ground 
enough   to   place   his   tent   on.      As   the   road 


230  THE    SUNSET    LAND. 

moved  on,  these  cities  would  pull  up  and  move 
on,  and  be  abandoned.  You  now  see  only 
empty  tin  cans  where  they  stood.  In  one  of 
these,  lands  to  the  amount  of  thirty  thousand 
dollars  were  sold,  where  not  an  inhabitant  now 
remains. 

In  the  first  of  these  plateaus  through  which 
we  pass,  is  a  low  kind  of  mountain,  that  looks 
like  a  huge  rhinoceros,  which  had  lain  down 
to  die,  and  which  had  died  and  shrivelled  up, 
till  his  skin  settled  down  upon  him,  bare,  rough, 
and  full  of  wrinkles.  Strange  as  it  may  seem, 
in  this  treeless,  herbless,  dreary  place,  these 
hills  are  full  of  bituminous  coal,  soft,  of  fair 
quality,  and  good  for  the  locomotive.  It  is  so 
near,  that  it  can  almost  be  shovelled  into  the 
cars,  as  they  stop  before  the  mines.  They  have 
been  dug  only  to  draw  from  the  top,  where  the 
air  has  had  access  to  it;  but  when  they  come 
to  get  down  deeper,  the  coal  will  doubtless  be 
of  a  better  quality.      I  mention  this  coal,  be- 


BUILDING   THE   ROAD.  231 

cause  without  this,  I  do  not  sec  how  the  roiid 
could  ever  have  been  built,  or  kept  running 
when  built.  So  destitute  of  wood  is  the  whole 
route,  that  in  going  from  Omaha,  the  builders 
passed  one  thousand  miles  before  they  came  to 
a  tree  I  That  stands  marked  —  "  The  Thousand 
Mile  Tree!" 

So  they  build,  pushing  on,  summer  and  win- 
ter, with  an  energy  never  equalled.  I  have 
often  heard  it  said,  the  ties  are  nothing  but 
cotton- wood,  which  is  a  species  of  poplar. 
This  is  true  only  to  a  limited  extent,  till  they 
could  get  oak  ties ;  and  even  the  cotton-wood 
was  carefully  Burnetized,  as  it  is  called,  which 
makes  them  as  durable  as  any  other  wood  used, 
—  as  they  claim.  The  rest  are  oak,  or  a  species 
of  fir,  very  nmch  like  our  larch,  or  tamarack. 
Where  it  was  built  in  the  summer,  it  will  com- 
pare well  with  any  other  road ;  and  where  it 
was  built  in  the  winter,  it  is  being  rapidly  made 
good.     I  was  surprised  to  find  it  as  good  as  it 


232  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

is.  For  three  hundred  miles  west  of  Omaha 
the  cars  run  at  the  rate  of  thirty-four  miles  to 
the  hour,  and  fifty-five  an  hour  have  been  run, 
which  no  engineer  would  dare  do  on  a  poor 
road. 

I  may  mention,  in  passing,  that  Brigham 
Young,  in  order  to  keep  his  people  secluded 
from  the  world,  took  a  large  contract  to  build, 
each  way  in  front  of  his  people,  and  thus  for  a 
time  effected  his  object.  Another  strong  rea- 
son probably  was,  it  was  the  first  good  oppor- 
tunity he  had  had  of  drawing  money  into  his 
settlement,  i.  e.,  into  his  own  hands;  for  he 
received  very  much  of  it  in  pay  for  their  em- 
igration, as  one  of  his  confidential  friends 
told  me.  - 

Let  us  now  build  at  the  other  end,  begin- 
ning at  Sacramento,  under  the  supervision  of 
Charles  Crocker,  a  second  Durant,  and  appro- 
priately called  a  railroad  King.  On  the  anni- 
versary of  the   battle    of  New   Orleans   under 


BUILDING    THE    ROAD.  233 

General  Jackson,  eighteen  months  earlier  than 
we  commenced  at  Omaha,  gi'ound  was  broken  at 
Sacramento,  and  Governor  Stanford,  amid  nods 
and  smiles  of  incredulity,  shovelled  the  first 
dirt  from  a  wagon  into  a  mud-puddle,  where 
the  road  was  to  commence.  This  was  in  1863. 
And  now  the  same  unconquerable  energy  was 
needed,  for  the  difficulties  in  the  way  seemed 
insuperable.  Eight  thousand  Chinamen — and 
better  workmen  could  not  have  been  found  — 
were  put  to  work.  Among  all  these  there  were 
no  murders,  no  vigilance  committees  needed,  no 
riots,  no  whiskey-shops,  and  no  drunkenness. 
These  children  of  heathenism  put  our  race  and 
religion  to  the  blush.  Besides  these  the  com- 
pany often  had  five  thousand  men  at  work  else- 
where. 

The  work  was  to  be  done  on  hills  and  moun- 
tains, Some  of  which  were  so  soft  and  sliding 
that  they  were  almost  impassable  in  the  rainy 
season,  and  some  were  rocks  so  hard   that   it 


234  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

seemed  impossible  to  drill  them.  The  rails 
aud  most  of  the  materials  had  to  be  shipped  at 
New  York,  and  carried  nineteen  thousand  miles 
around  Cape  Horn.  It  was  all  a  very  high 
grade,  some  of  it  as  high  as  one  hundred  and 
sixteen  feet  to  the  mile.  Here,  too,  we  ought 
to  say,  the  road  could  never  have  been  built 
without  the  Chinamen. 

At  one  time  thirty-one  vessels  were  urging 
their  way  round  Cape  Horn,  laden  with  iron, 
locomotives,  and  materials  for  this  road.  On 
the  Sierra  Nevadas  w^ere  twenty-five  saw-mills, 
yielding  six  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand 
feet  of  lumber  daily,  supplied  by  the  axes  of  a 
thousand  men,  as  they  rang  up  over  places 
w^here  the  axe  had  never  been  heard  before. 
More  than  one  hundred  miles  of  ties  were 
always  in  advance.  The  almost  inaccessible 
mountains  poured  down  timber  and  stone  with- 
out measure.  The  two  roads  handled  and  laid 
down  about  seven  hundred  tons  of  iron  daily. 


BUILDING    THE    ROAD.  235 

during  the  six  clays  in  the  week,  and  once,  on 
a  strife,  one  road  actually  laid  over  ten  miles 
of  rail  in  one  day,  and  the  other  one  eleven 
miles,  —  together  making  a  distance  farther 
than  an  emigrant  team  could  travel  in  a  day  I 
The  whole  State  was  moved  and  straitened 
to  gather  all  the  supplies  needed.  Up,  up 
crd^)t  the  road.  They  meet  a  mountain  which 
they  can  neither  climb  nor  bore.  So  around 
it  and  up  it  the  road  winds,  till  it  gets  high 
enough  to  move  off  on  the  ridge  of  another 
mountain ;  and  as  you  wind  around  this  new 
Cape  Horn,  you  look  down  fifteen  hundred 
feet,  and  yet  see  the  peak  still  five  hundred  feet 
above  you,  and  feel  that  you  ought  not  to  be 
safe.  Over  deep  gulches  (a  California  word), 
by  high  and  giddy  trestled  work,  the  founda- 
tions most  carefully  laid  against  the  rush  of 
waters,  and  often  the  waters  turned  off  and 
away  from  the  abutments,  —  the  road  goes. 
They  come  to  solid  mountains,  and  they  blast 


236  THE    SUNttET   LAND. 

tlicm  away,  so  that  the  locomotive  can  cling  to 
their  sides,  or  they  push  a  tnnnel  through  them. 
There  are  fifteen  of  these  tunnels,  and,  united, 
would  amount  to  six  thousand  two  hundred  and 
sixty-two  feet,  or  more  than  ten  times  the  tun- 
nelling between  Boston  and  Albany.  Down  the 
sides  of  the  Cape  Horn  Mountain  rushes  the 
American  River,  looking  like  a  mere  brooktet, 
w^hile  all  around  the  mountains  rise,  till  they 
terminate  in  perpetual  snows. 

Nestled  in,  under  the  eye  of  everlasting 
snows,  lies  the  little  "  Summit  Yalley,"  a  mile 
long  and  half  a  mile  wide,  —  as  if  a  child  of 
sunshine  had  crept  up  to  see  how  it  would 
seem  to  summer  among  the  desolations  of  bro- 
ken rocks,  and  volcanic  mountains,  and  eternal 
snows. 

At  an  altitude  over  seven  thousand  feet,  far 
higher  than  Mount  Washington,  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  twice  or  three  times  higher  than  any 
otlier  railroad  in  this  country,  is  the  long  tun- 


ON   THE   MOUNTAINS.  237 

iiel,  bored  through  rock  as  hard  as  porphyry, 
and  then  the  road  cUngs  to  the  mountain-side 
in  a  place  that  had  to  be  blasted  out  —  not  by 
gunpowder,  —  for  that  had  lost  power,  —  but  by 
glycerine.  Just  at  the  dusk  of  evening,  when 
life  would  be  least  exposed,  you  might  have 
looked  up  a  thousand  feet  above  Donner  Lake, 
and  seen  the  workmen  fire  their  glycerine 
blasts,  when  huge  masses  of  rock  and  a  world 
of  powdered  debris  poured  out  of  the  mountain- 
side like  the  explosions  of  a  score  of  thunder- 
claps, as  all  this  came  thundering  down,  and 
rolling  down  the  deep  declivities,  while  the 
echoes  rolled  and  reechoed  from  canon  to  canon, 
till  they  were  lost  upon  the  distant  mountain- 
tops. 

No  finer,  more  sublime  scenery  can  be  found 
than  that  seen  from  the  different  pomts  of  this 
Central  Pacific  Railroad.  Huge  battlements 
were  laid,  deep  gorges  spanned,  mountains 
climbed  and  bored,  till  the  home  of  eternal  win- 


238  THE    SUNSET    LAND. 

ter  was  invaded.  The  sixteen  tunnels  tell  the 
story  of  the  rocks.  And  here,  where  the  ava-* 
lanche  slides  and  thunders,  are  the  sheds, 
strong,  and  inviting  for  him  to  slide  over.  And 
where  the  snow  falls  from  twenty  to  forty 
feet  deep,  are  sheds  supported  by  mighty 
timbers,  the  full  round  trees  used,  and  these 
sheds  already  nearly  forty  miles  in  length  — 
the  grandest  specimens  of  timber-strength  I 
ever  saw. 

And  now  we  have  climbed  the  Nevadas, 
and  again  come  to  the  everlasting  deserts. 
"We  have  met  with  one  covered  with  alkali, 
white  as  snow,  and  forty  miles  wide.  I  have 
studied  not  a  little  to  ascertain  to  what  use 
these  vast  beds  of  alkali  can  ever  be  put ;  can 
they,  should  it  be  possible  to  sink  artesian 
wells  through  the  alkali  and  bring  up  pure 
water,  ever  be  washed  free  from  the  salts,  and 
made  fruitful  ?  How  deep  is  the  deposit  ? 
The  Mormons  inform  me  that  in  such  alkaline 


ALKALI   DESERTS.  239 

deposits,  the  deeper  they  go,  the  stronger  the 
salts,  and  that  they  cannot  be  made  fruitful 
by  irrigation.  Of  what  possible  use  can  they 
ever  be,  then,  to  the  human  family?  Can  the}^ 
be  used  for  manure  to  enrich  other  portions 
of  our  country?  My  friend  and  travelling 
companion  *  brought  some  of  it  home,  and 
put  it  into  the  hands  of  a  skilful  expert 
to  find  if  it  would  make  soap,  and  if  so,  what 
would  be  its  worth  here.  The  result  is  not 
so  favorable  as  I  supposod  possible,  inas- 
much as  there  are  other  insrrcdients  mixed  with 
the  soda.  Still,  I  am  not  quite  sure  that 
those  vast  repositories  of  alkaline  matter  will 
not  hereafter  become  an  article  of  commerce. 
May  it  not  yet  be,  that,  as  the  cars  pass  up  the 
valley  of  the  Truckee,  the  traveller  will  look 
out  and  see  a  huge,  broad  building,  occu^Died 
by  some  Yankee,  with  a  glaring  sign,  "The 
Desert  Universal  Soap  Factory?" 

♦  Thaddeus  Clapp  and  lady,  of  Pittsfield. 


240  THE  sunsp:t  land. 

As  to  which  railroad  deserves  the  more 
credit,  it  is  not  easy  to  say.  They  are  both 
the  products  of  great  skill,  energy,  and  labor. 

The  Pacific  is  the  more  thoroughly  built,  the 
Union  is  by  far  the  longer,  and  began  much 
later.  They  are  built  in  a  time  for  shortness 
unparalleled  in  the  history  of  railroads.  They 
are  monuments  of  wonderful  achievement,  even 
in  the  nineteenth  century.  But  they  are  done, 
and  we  will  now  attend  a  wonderful  wedding 
on  the  great  plateau  of  the  mountains. 

It  is  Monday  morning.  We  are  in  the  first 
cars  that  ever  crossed  the  continent  of  Amer- 
ica !  We  have  crossed  over  fifty  temporary 
bridges,  one  of  which  had  just  broken  down. 
It  was  over  a  swift,  rushing  river,  with  a  fall 
of  sixty-five  feet  just  below  the  bridge.  It 
had  been  mended,  and  we  reached  it  in  the 
darkness  of  night.  They  yere  afraid  to  let 
the  engine  rest  on  it,  and  so  they  back  us  up 
to  the  bridge,  and  very  carefully  unfasten  the 


PROMONTORY    tOINT.  241 

coupling,  and  let  our  cars,  one  by  one,  run 
over.  We  are  in  the  big,  heavy  car,  and  we 
stand  on  the  platform,  see  the  foaming  waters, 
fifty  feet  below  us,  and  hear  their  savage 
roar,  and  we  hold  our  breath,  till  we  are 
over. 

But  now  we  are  on  a  plateau,  surrounded 
by  dreary  mountains.  That  bold  headland 
yonder  is  the  object  at  which  thousands  of 
men,  on  both  roads,  have  been  looking  for  six 
years.  It  is  "  Promontory  Point,"  on  the  very 
back-bone  of  the  continent.  Engines  and  trains 
from  the  East,  and  engiijes  and  trains  from 
the  West,  some  covered  with  flags,  stand 
facing  each  other.  A  rod  or  two  between 
them  has,  as  yet,  no  ties  and  no  rails. 

One  man.  West  Evans,  who  had  furnished 
the  Central  company  with  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  ties,  and  who  had  furnished  thQ 
first  tie  put  down,  was  there  with  the  last,  a 
beautiful  specimen  of  the  California  laurel,  which 
16 


242  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

was  duly  laid  down,  and  then  taken  up  and 
preserved.  The  ties  of  the  Central  road 
were  all  sawed,  of  red  wood ;  those  of  the 
Union  were  hewed. 

I  At  the  appointed  time,  the  Master  Spirits  of* 
the  two  roads  meet.  White  workmen  from  the 
East  and  olive  Chinamen  from  the  West  meet, 
bearing  the  last  sleepers  and  the  last  rails.  ■  A 
few  boards,  set  up  like  a  roof,  is  the  telegraph 
office.  A  few  tents,  bearing  the  sign  of  "  Sa- 
loon," or  "  Restaurant,"  compose  tlie  place.  A 
rough  flag-staff,  with  our  dear  old  flag  on  it, 
tells  us  we  are  yet  in  our  country,  and  the 
glorious  flag  is  a  witness  of  the  scene.  A 
regiment  of  soldiers,  on  their  way  to  Alaska, 
are  present  to  see  the  occasion.  Telegraph 
arrangements  have  been  made,  so  that  every 
telegi-aph  in  the  land  shall  be  connected.  A 
skilful  officer  has  been  detailed  by  the  Gov- 
ernment to  carry  the  wire  down  to  the  "  Gold- 
en Gate,"  below  San   Francisco,  and  attach  it 


THE   MOUNTAIN   WEDDING.  243 

to  a  fifteen-inch  Parrott  gun,  to  see  if  a  gun 
can  be  fired  eight  hundred  miles  off.  At  the 
appointed  hour,  the  last  tie  is  laid ;  and  now, 
before  the  rails  are  laid,  the  telegraph  flashes 
through  the  country,  "Are  you  all  ready?" 
Back,  from  scores  of  cities  comes  the  echo, 
"All  ready."  Again  the  telegraph  says,  "At 
the  third  tap  "  it  will  be  done.  "  We  under- 
stand," say  the  wires.  In  Washington,  Cin- 
cinnati, Chicago,  all  the  western  cities,  in  New 
York,  Boston,  even  in  Halifiix,  in  all  the 
Pacific  cities,  people  stand  grouped  and  breath- 
less around  the  telegraph  ofllces.  "  We  are 
now  going  to  attend  prayers  —  hats  off,"  say 
the  wires,  and  in  all  these  places  they  take 
off  hats  and  listen  to  the  prayer  as  it  leaps 
over  the  wires,  sentence  by  sentence,  to  places 
four  thousand  miles  apart.  The  officer  at  the 
fort  at  the  Golden  Gate  can  hardly  retain  his  seat 
for  excitement.  What  a  place  in  which  to  pray  ! 
Was   prayer  ever  -offered  there   before  ?     Was 


244  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

ever  prayer  heard  by  mortal  ears  four  thousand 
miles  away,  before?  The  occasion  would  have 
been  overwhelming,  had  we  not  felt  that  God, 
who  had  lifted  up  this  continent,  and  had  placed 
us  on  the  summit,  and  who  had  given  to  man 
his  skill,  —  God,  God  alone  is  great !  The 
Governors  of  four  States  or  Territories,  with 
their  gold  and  silver  sj^ikes,  are  there  —  each 
golden  one  having  nearly  four  hundred  dol- 
lars in  it.  And  now  the  last  rail  is  laid  and 
spiked.  A  telegraph  wire  is  coiled  around  a 
silver  hammer,  and  the  President  of  the  Cen- 
tral Pacific  just  taps  the  head  of  the  golden 
spike !  That  tap  j)roclaimed  to  the  country, 
and  through  Europe,  that  the  work  is  done  ! 
The  railroads  are  wedded  into  one  !  That  gen- 
tle tap  fired  the  big  gun  which  the  officer  was 
watching  at  the  Fort,  and  instantly  set  all  the 
bells  in  the  land  a  ringing,  and  announced 
that  the  greatest  work  ever  attempted  in  rail- 
roads was  a  success !      In   three   minutes   the 


MOUNTAIN    WEDDING    RING.  245 

telegrams  came  back  from  all  the  cities  — 
"  The  bells  are  ringing,  and  the  people  rejoi- 
cing." The  whole  thing  seemed  a  wild  dream. 
The  telegraphing  seemed  to  be  magic,  and 
we  could  hardly  realize  that  creatures  so  small 
and  feeble  as  men,  had  accomplished  a  work 
so  great.  It  made  all  other  works  of  the 
kind  seem  small  and  insignificant.  This  was 
May  10,  1869.  The  little  ring  on  my  fin- 
ger, bearing  the  significant  words,  "  The 
Mountain  Wedding,  May  10,  1869,"  and 
presented  me  in  commemoration  of  the  occa- 
sion, was  made,  as  I  know  certainly,  from  a 
piece  of  one  of  the  golden  spikes.*  And  thus 
the  marriage  was  consummated,  under  the 
bright  sun,  in  the  desert  place,  and  under 
the  eye  of  Promontory  Point  —  hereafter  to 
become  historical. 

Perhaps    there   were   three    thousand    men, 
including   workmen,  present,  besides   a   sprin- 

*  Presented  by  David  Hewes,  Esq.,  of  San  Francisco. 


246  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

kling  of  ladies ;  but  in  reality,  the  millions  of 
our  country  were  present.  I  understand  there 
is  to  be  an  historical  painting  of  the  scene. 

If  you  ask  how  I  came  to  be  there,  and  be 
a  participator  on  the  occasion,  I  can  only 
say,  that  as  it  was  without  my  expectation  or 
seeking,  I  do  not  feel  especially  to  blame ; 
and  as  for  my  participating,  you  know  that 
when  men  cannot  get  better  materials,  they 
have  to  use  such  as  they  can  obtain. 

Allow  me,  now,  to  attempt  to*  convey  to 
you  my  own  impressions  as  to  the  results  of 
this  great  work  —  premising,  that  I  consider 
railroading  but  just  in  its  infancy,  and  that 
we  have  no  conception  of  what  the  system 
is  to  become.  I  do  not  look  at  it  merely 
as  a  new  and  short  pathway  by  which  we 
may  visit  that  wonderful  land,  California  — 
as  a  means  of  bringing  us  fruits  that  have 
ripened  under  their  rich  sunlight  —  and  as  an 
advance    in  the   progress   of    civilization ;    but 


TWO   MINDS   IN   ADVANCE.  247 

as    giving     all    the    institutions    of    the    east 
power  to  kiss  the  young  sister  at  the   West,    p^ 
and  breathe  our  love  upon  her,  as  she  *'  sits, 
the  highway  of  nations." 

There  were  two  minds  that  saw  this  result 
many  years  ago ;  I  mean  the  Rev.  Theron 
Baldwin,  of  New  York,  who  has  planted  and 
matured,  as  the  exponent  of  the  College  Soci- 
ety, more  Colleges  and  permanent  Literary  Insti- 
tutions, than  any  other  ten  men  that  ever  lived. 
More  than  ten  years  ago  he  saw  this  railroad,  and 
called  it  "the  highway  of  nations."  He  looked 
over  these  vast  heights,  and  began  to  dig  Jacob's 
wells  on  the  Pacific,  not  waiting  for  the  road 
to  be  built.  The  other  was  Thomas  H.  Ben- 
ton, who,  twenty  years  ago,  urged  this  work 
upon  his  country  with  an  eloquence  worthy 
of  the  man.  I  wish  I  had  time  and  space 
to  quote  his  own  beautiful  language. 

This  remarkable  speech  of  Mr.  Benton  was 
made  at  the  first  National  Convention  in  be- 


248  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

half  of  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific,  held  at  St. 
Louis,  October,   1849. 

The  Hon.  Thomas  Allen,  of  Pittsfield, 
wrote  the  call  for  this  Convention,  addressed 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States ;  also  the 
address  of  the  Convention  to  the  Nation ;  also 
the  Memorial  to  Congress.  He  started  the 
first  Pacific  Railroad  ever  actually  commenced, 
now  running  from  St.  Louis  to '  Sheridan,  six 
hundred  and  ninety-five  miles,  —  was  its  Presi- 
dent over  three  years,  —  took  the  first  locomo- 
tive ("  Pacific  No.  3  ")  from  Taunton,  Massa- 
chusetts, that  ever  crossed  the  Mississippi :  he 
also  wrote  the  Memorial  to  Congress,  urging 
them  to  grant  lands  and  loan  bonds.  The 
plan  thus  suggested  was  adopted,  and  is  'the 
basis  of  the  Pacific  Eailroads. 

Thus  two  Pittsfield  men,  Allen  and  Du- 
rant,  have  been  very  prominent  in  these  great 
works.  Can  any  other  town  claim  like  or 
equal  honors? 


BENTON'S   VISION.  249 

Benton  pleads  that  the  nation  shall  build  the 
railroad  from  the  Missouri  to  the  Pacific.  He 
seems  to  stand  higher  than  any  one  of  his  fel- 
lows. He  looks  back  three  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  and  sees  the  great  Columbus,  sent  out 
by  a  King  and  Queen,  searching  for  the  East  by 
sailing  west.  He  sees  him  checked  by  a  conti- 
nent which  he  had  discovered,  and  from  which 
he  was  afterwards  carried  home  in  chains.  But 
the  great  thought  — "  find  the  east  by  going 
west"  —  has  never  died.  The  Franklins,  the 
Kanes,  and  the  other  navigators  w^hb  have 
perished  in  the  attempt  to  solve  the  problem, 
have  kept  the  thought  active.  It  has  been 
reserved  for  our  day  and  this  Republic  to  com- 
plete the  great  design  of  Columbus,  by  making 
a  highway  over  a  continent,  turning  the  ship 
into  a  steam-car,  and  eveiy  day  launching  the 
true  ship  of  the  desert  westward,  every  way 
larger,  more  costly,  and  freighted  with  more 
mind,  than  Cook's  ship  ever  had,  though  she 


250  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

sailed  round  the  globe.  This  car-ship  starts 
from  Boston,  joins  hands  at  New  York,  looks  in 
at  the  half-way  house  at  Omaha,  and  passes  on. 
And  Benton  in  his  vision  saw  all  this,  and  on 
the  heights  of  the  Kooky  Mountains,  he  seemed 
to  see  a  Statue  of  Columbus,  chiselled  from  the 
everlasting  rock,  with  his  face  looking  west- 
ward, and  his  arm  outstretched,  saying  to  every 
passing  car,  ''  There  is  the  East !  there  is  In- 
dia ! "  On  these  sublime  heights  the  traveller 
sees  a  great,  awful  Rock,  lofty  and  square,  like 
a  great  fort.  Who  knows  but,  coming  in  sight 
of  that  Rock,  now  called  "Watch  Rock,"  the 
eye  of  the  traveller  may  yet  moisten  as  he  sees 
such  a  Statue  of  the  Great  Navigator,  with  a 
scroll  in  one  hand  and  the  other  pointing 
towards  the  setting  sun,  and  saying,  "  Eureka  I 
I  have  found  my  passage  to  the  East ! " 

One  of  the  immediate  results,  I  have  no 
doubt,  of  the  successful  termination  of  this 
great   enterprise   will    be   the   construction   of 


RESULTS   TO  BE   EXPECTED.  251 

three  more  such  roads  —  the  Southern,  from 
San  Diego  to  Fulton,  in  Arkansas,  and  thus  to 
New  Orleans;  the  second,  from  St.  Louis  to 
San  Francisco ;  and  the  Northern,  from  the 
northern  lakes  to  Puget  Sound,  or  to  Oregon. 
The  country  will  never  rest  till  all  this  is  done. 
In  thinking  of  what  has  been  done,  you  must 
bear  in  mind  that  this  whole  thing  has  been 
against  nature.  It  is  easy  to  build'  railroads  i-- 
north  and  south,  for  so  run  the  rivers  and  the 
valleys.  But  go  from  Boston  to  Albany,  east 
and  west,  and  how  is  it  ?  We  had  to  cross  the 
continent,  where  mountains  and  deserts  had 
risen  up  to  the  snow  regions,  as  if  forever  to 
keep  the  two  oceans  apart.  Skjjl  hath  laid  his 
iron  hand  on  the  mane  of  the  everlasting  moun- 
tains, and,  grinding  flinty  rocks  to  powder  be-  ^ 
neath  his  heel,  hath  leaped  over  the  barriers  of 
nature.  Is  it  possible  that  the  Prophet  caught 
a  glimpse  of  the  iron  horse,  thousands  of  years 
ago,  when  he  says,  "The  chariots  shall  be  with 


252  THE   SUNSET  LAND. 

flaming  torches  in  the  day  of  his  preparation, 
and  the  fir  trees  shall  be  terribly  shaken.  The 
chariots  shall  rage  in  the  streets ;  they  shall 
jostle  one  against  another  in  the  broad  ways ; 
they  shall  seem  like  torches ;  they  shall  run 
like  the  lightnings"? 

There  is  another  text  also,  quoted  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Dwinell,  of  Sacramento,  in  his  most 
beautiful  sermon  on  the  completion  of  this  rail- 
road, most  expressive  of  the  thought  I  now 
wish  to  convey.  "Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the 
Lord,  make  straight  in  the  desert  a  highway 
for  our  God.  Every  valley  shall*  be  exalted, 
and  every  mountain  and  hill  shall  be  made  low, 
and  the  crooked  shall  be  made  straight,  and  the 
rough  places  plain,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  revealed,  and  all  flesh  shall  see  it 
together,  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath 
spoken   it."  * 

♦  I  have  not  hesitated  to  use  some  of  my  brother's  beau- 
tiful thoughts  as  they  lie  in  my  memory,  having  lost  the 


RESULTS.  253 

Had  a  company  of  angels  been  sent  to  fling 
that  great  highway  across  the  continent ;  had 
they  put  down  the  stakes  where  cities  and  vil- 
lages should  spring  up,  and  be  strung  along 
like  pearls  on  a  dark  string ;  had  they  been  the 
Directors,  and  laid  the  plans  to  make  it  a  high- 
way for  our  God,  —  I  cannot  see  that  it  would 
have  evinced  a  higher  end  than  that  we  now  see. 
Did  it  not  seem  like  God's  coming  to  take 
possession  of  it,  when  he  so  ordered  it  that  a 
Minister  of  the  Gospel  should  be  on  the  ground 
to  consecrate  it  to  his  glory,  ere  the  last  spike 
should  be  driven?  that  this  minister  should  be 
in  the  first  car  that  ever  passed  the  continent, 
and  preach  the  first  sermon  in  the  Golden 
State,  on  arriving  there,  of  any  one  ever  thus 
to  arrive?  that  he  should  find  at  Sacramento 
nine  Christian  people,  most  of  them  mission- 
sermon.  But  the  beauty,  I  fear,  I  have  lost.  It  is  an  ex- 
quisite specimen  of  occasional  sermonizing.  I  really  do  not 
know  how  much  or  little  I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  D. 


254  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

aries  from  the  Sandwich  Islands,  waiting  to 
take  the  first  cars  that  would  come  the  other 
way?  When  I  look  at  the  barrels,  the  boxes, 
and  the  passenger-cars  on  this  road,  I  look  at 
them  with  a  Christian's  faith,  and  see  them  as 
so  many  instrumentalities  to  carry  out  my 
Father's  plans.  I  see  that  by  this  pathway 
hearts  that  have  been  long  separated,  faces  that 
are  to  be  washed  with  tears  of  joy,  homes  that 
have  been  broken  up,  are  again  to  meet  and  be 
reunited.  The  cold  iron  is  to  be  kept  warm  by 
the  bounding  hearts  that  are  flying  over  it  to 
meet  kindred  hearts.  It  was  the  last  link 
needed  to  belt  the  globe.  You  leave  New 
York  by  steam  to  Liverpool ;  by  steam  on  land 
you  spin  through  France ;  by  steam  you  go 
from  France,  on  the  water,  to  Alexandria; 
from  Alexandria,  on  rail,  steam  takes  you  to 
Suez ;  from  Suez  to  China  or  Japan,  on  water, 
by  steam;  from  China  to  San  Francisco  by 
steam  ;  and  now  again  the  last  link  is  supplied  ; 


POWER  OF   THIS   RAILROAD.  255 

over  land  by  rail,  to  New  York,  about  one  sixth 
of  the  whole  distance  by  this  new  channel. 
Now  the  couriers  of  civilization  can  go  round 
the  earth  in  three  months.  And  this  earth-born 
Daughter  of  Strength  wends  her  way,  as  we  V" 
should  expect,  among  and  through  the  highest, 
most  civilized  nations  of  the  earth.  There  is 
England,  a  hive  of  industry  on  a  little  earth- 
spot  in  the  ocean,  made  brilliant  by  a  galaxy  of 
talent,  planting  her  colonies  all  over  the  earth,  t/ 
aggressive,  massive,  the  true  successor  of  the 
Roman  power.  There  is  France,  with  her  ar- 
tistic civilization,  the  creator  and  umpire  of 
taste,  the  queen  of  fashion,  and  the  wonder  in 
the  workmanship  of  what  is  beautiful.  There 
is  Egypt,  a  land  that  ever  has  been,  and  ever 
will  be,  a  puzzle.  There  is  China,  with  its  im-  ,  ,. 
movable,  half-civilization,  abiding  her  time ; 
and  old  India,  waiting  for  the  British  people 
to  do  for  her  what  she  cannot  do  for  herself; 
and  here  is  the  New  World,  working  out  for  the 


256  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

human  race  the  great  problem  of  human  gov- 
ernments, individual  freedom,  the  highest  civil- 
ization, and  the  problem  of  human  responsibili- 
ties, and  aspirations,  and  achievements,  —  this 
New  World,  having  been  the  last  nation  to  take 
the  torch  of  freedom  directly  from  the  hand  of 
God,  and  in  the  best  possible  position,  to  hold 
^  it  up  in  the  presence  of  earth ;  and  here  is  the 
Church  of  God,  sublimated  and  set  free  from  the 
materialism  of  past  ages,  and   leaning  on  the 

\^  breast  of  her  Beloved  as  no  church  ever  did 
before  !  Why,  it  seem^  as  if  around  this  great 
"highway  of  nations,"  God  had  gathered  the 
wealth,  the  population,  the  intelligence,  the 
civilization,  and  the  religion  of  the  earth ;  and 

V  here  are  to  run  the  shuttles  that  shall  weave  the 
garments  of  peace  and  good-will,  which  all 
nations  shall  soon  put  on.  Here,  on  this  path- 
way, are  to  be  found  the  elasticity  of  the  temper- 
ate zone,  the  institutions  of  learnins:  which  are 
to  be  the  school-house  of  the  nations,  and  also 


GREAT  RESULTS  TO  ENSUE.       257 

the  pure  Christianity  which  is  to  be  the  leaven 
that  is  to  leaven  the  whole  lump.  Whatever  of 
education,  learning,  intelligence,  virtue,  pro- 
gressive thought,  human  freedom,  power  to 
plan  and  power  to  do,  which  earth  possesses, 
is  on  this  line  of  quick  communication. 

'And  can  you  see  nothing  but  freight  and 
cars,  and  the  smoke  of  the  locomotive?  Hu- 
manity now  revolves  around  this  great  axis 
created  by  man,  and  it  is  to  be  the  centre  for 
the  re-construction  of  humanity.  It  will  be  the 
highway  of  commerce  and  of  learning,  of  broth- 
erly kindness,  of  the  messengers  of  peace,  and 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  It  is  not  an  evidence 
of  decay,  but  of  new  life,  —  this  mingling  of 
blood ;  and  when  I  see  this  great  link  supplied, 
letting  in  our  east,  and  bringing  the  old  east  — 
China  and  the  like  — to  be  their  west,  I  can  see 
a  future  for  the  Atlantic  slope,  for  the  Inland 
mighty  valley,  and  for  the  Pacific  slope,  such 
as  I  never  saw  before.  | 
17 


258  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

California,  cradled  in  excitement,  and  now 
giving  promise  of  a  rapid  and  great  growth, 
must  have  been  dwarfed,  had  she  forever  been 
isolated  and  shut  away  from  the  rest  of  us,  and 
she  must  have  degenerated.  Human  beings 
must  mingle  with  others,  or  they  become  inbred, 
and  degenerate.  That  downward  tendency 
which  seems  to  be  a  part  of  all  that  is  human,  is 
arrested  by  contact  with  what  is  vigorous  and 
healthy.  Our  gardens  and  flower-beds  must 
have  their  seed  changed.  And  at  this  hour,  and 
by  the  means  of  steam,  God  is  pouring  one  na- 
tion into  another,  and  mingling  languages  and 
tongues.  Over  the  snowy  summits  of  the  Ne- 
vadas  we  shall  pour  our  people,  creating  new 
homes,  and  villages,  and  cities,  like  those  we 
have  here,  —  starting  on  a  new  race  of  improve- 
ment. And  this  railroad  makes  our  country 
one.  It  can  now  never  divide,  creating  a  gov- 
ernment oflf  on  the  Pacific  slope  by  itself;  but 
all  will  unite  in  one  grand  eflbrt  to  make  our 


.    RESULTS.  259 

nation  great  at  home,  and  a  leader  in  the 
world's  march  after  improvement.    '. 

Said  William  H.  Seward,  when  that  road 
shall  hare  been  extended  to  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
"disunion  will  be  rendered  forever  afterwards 
impossible.  There  will  be  no  fulcrum  for  the 
lever  of  treason  to  rest  upon." 

There  was  a  time  when  old  Paganism  stood 
trembling,  on  feeble  limbs,  and  looking,  with 
anxious  eye,  for  something  better ;  and  then 
God  lifted  up  the  Star  of  Bethlehem,  and  the 
world  advanced.  There  was  a  time  when  the 
eye  of  science  was  dim,  and  the  word  of  God, 
whose  "  entrance  "  everywhere  "  giveth  life," 
was  shut  up  and  away ;  and  then  God  gave 
the  printing-press,  and  knowledge  and  truth 
were  unbound,  to  walk  together  among  men. 
There  was  a  time  when  the  population  of  the 
earth  needed  more  comforts,  and  better  material 
things,  and  the  opening  of  the  coal  mines,  and 
the  putting  the  spindles  and  the  looms  of  the 


V 


260  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

factories  in  motion,  created  the  supply  needed. 
Brain  was  worth  more  than  mere  muscle,  for 
brain  could  turn  wood  and  iron  into  muscle. 
There  are  epochs  in  the  world's  history,  and 
in  the  advancement  of  our  race.  Our  day  is 
the  day  for  making  the  earth  smaller,  by  cre- 
ating speed ;  and  I  see  in  it  a  Divine  plan ; 
and  I  hear  His  voice,  saying,  "Prepare  ye  the 
way  of  the  Lord ;  make  straight  in  the  desert 
a  highway  for  our  God ;  and  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  revealed."  All  the  discoveries 
which  men  make,  all  the  inventions  which  they 
bring  out,  all  the  facilities  for  intercourse  which 
they  create,  be  it  rushing  over  a  vast  continent, 
bringing  Commerce  to  move  her  burdens  on  the 
land  instead  of  on  the  water ;  flashing  thought 
along  on  the  bed  of  the  ocean,  — all  are  taken 
up  in  God's  plans,  and  made  to  reveal  his 
glory.  It  is  taking  the  materialism  of  earth, 
and  sanctifying  it,  and  making  it  not  merely 
harmonize  with,  but  be  the  carrier  of  spiritual 
things. 


RESULTS.  261 

It  may  take  a  century,  or  three  centuries, 
before  men  will  understand  the  full  import  and 
power  of  the  railroad ;  but  this  we  do  know  — 
that  a  road  which  goes  into  the  far  west  of  the 
Pacific,  does  not  stop  there.  In  ways  that  we 
do  not  know,  it  reaches  into  the  spiritual  world, 
and  is  the  bearer  of  spiritual  good  to  our 
race.  It  already  melts  away  our  prejudices, 
and  brings  us  into  brotherhood  with  all  the 
nations.  I  may  not  be  able,  and  I  am  not  able, 
to  point  out  all  the  bearings  which  this  one 
new  road  will  have  on  the  kingdom  of  light  and 
mercy ;  yet  I  feel  just  as  sure  that  it  will  have 
mighty  results  upon  that  kingdom,  as  if  I  had 
seen  the  Divine  hand  swing  this  great  enter- 
prise over  the  mountains,  and  press  it  down 
there  with  his  foot. 

China  is  our  neighbor  now.  The  East  and 
the  West  embrace  ;  nay,  we  hardly  know  which 
is  East  or  which  is  West.  This  one  road  has 
turned  the  world  round.  J  Thus  beneath  all  this 


262  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

labor,  and  toil,  and  skill,  in  the  cry  of  Com- 
merce for  new  working-ground,  and  in  the  rising 
up  of  myriads  to  find  better  homes,  we  see  the 
Divine  Mind  urging  it  all  on,  and  forward,  for 
the  good  of  that  race,  which  His  Son  hath 
redeemed,  by  becoming  one  of  them. 

That  great  dome  of  heaven,  which  our  Heav- 
enly Father  hath  hung  over  all  the  earth, 
covers  one  great  famil}^,  and  their  means  of 
intercommunication  are  creating  a  warmer 
brotherhood,  and  thus  causing  us  to  feel  that 
we  are  at  home  anywhere  beneath  that  mighty 
dome. 


SAN   FRANCISCO   BAY.  263 


CHAPTER     VII. 

THE   FUTURE    OF   THE    PACIFIC    SLOPE,    AND    THE 
CHINESE     QUESTION. 

On  the  Pacific  shores  are  three  harbors, 
conveniently  located  to  meet  the  wants  of 
commerce  —  on  the  north,  Puget  Sound ;  on 
Jhe  south,  San  Diego ;  and  in  the  centre,  San 
Francisco  Bay.  The  latter  is  the  queen  of 
harbors,  and  has  a  great  headway  in  advance 
of  the  others.  As  you  come  into  the  bay, 
passing  the  Golden  Gate,  you  are  sailing 
directly  east.  After  passing  east  a  few  miles, 
you  turn  to  the  south,  around  the  point  of 
a  peninsula.  On  the  end  of  that  peninsula  is 
San  Francisco  —  a  city  built  on  and  among 
the  most  dreary  sand-hills.  Originally  no 
spot  could  be  more  uninviting.     But  in  twenty 


264  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

years  the  high  hills  have  been  cut  down  and 
carted  into  the  water,  rocks  blasted,  sloughs 
filled  up,  till  now  you  find  a  wondrous  city, 
with  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
inhabitants,  with  architecture  which  would 
honor  any  city ;  with  nothing  that  looks  young, 
green,  or  unfinished ;  and  kept  in  order  by  its 
police,  superior  to  any  other  city  in  the  land. 
You^are  amazed  at  seeing  a  city  looking  old, 
and  ripe,  and  finished,  having  twelve  daily 
papers,  and  many  of  them  of  mammoth  size  -^ 
having  six  miles  of  wharfage  already  built; 
having  huge  steamships,  that  run  regularly, 
not  only  every  day  and  hour  through  the 
harbor,  but  on  the  New  York  line,  and  on 
the  lines  for  China,  Japan,  Sandwich  Islands, 
and  Oregon.  In  this  city  capital  has  centred, 
and  has  been  wisely  and  generously  used  to 
build  public  institutions,  free  schools,  hos-' 
pitals,  asylums  for  the  blind,  for  the  deaf 
and   dumb,    for    the    orphans,    and   for   all   in 


FUTURE  OF  SAN  FRANCISCO.       265 

distress.  San  Francisco  is,  by  her  position,  by 
her  energy  and  wisdom,  to  be  the  Elect  Lady 
of  the  coast,  and  nothing  but  earthquakes 
will  interfere  with  her  growth.  In  the  centre 
of  mines  which  have  but  just  begun  to  be  de- 
veloped, in  the  midst  of  a  region  unequalled 
in  the  world  for  agricultural  productiveness, 
with  unexplored  mines  of  coal  and  of  iron, 
with  unmeasured  forests  .of  the  finest  timber 
ever  found  anywhere,  with  one  continental 
railroad  already  built,  and  another  —  that  to 
St.  Louis  —  which  will  be  built,  she  must 
become  a  great  commercial  and  manufactur- 
ing city. 

California  can  support  twenty  millions  of 
people  by  her  own  resources,  and  the  whole 
Pacific  slope  twice  that  number,  at  least. 
One  eighteenth  of  all  the  land  in  the  State 
was  given  by  Congress,  to  be  devoted,  as  fast 
as  sold,  to  public  schools.  In  addition  to  this. 
Congress    gave     her    five     hundred    thousand 


266  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

acres  of  land,  to  be  devoted  to  iuternal  im- 
provements ;  and  the  State  has  wiselj^  decided 
that  the  inside  of  the  human  head  is  the 
place  to  begin  improvements,  and  has  set  this 
also  aside  for  schools  and  public  education. 
She  also  taxes  all  the  property  of  her  peo- 
ple for  schools.  The  free-school  system  of 
Massachusetts  is  adopted,  and  there  is  not  a 
child  in  the  State  v^hich  may  not  be  educated 
at  public  cost.  These  schools  are  established 
as  fast  as  population  requires,  and  are  al- 
ready of  a  high  order.  This  free-school  sys- 
tem is  justly  the  pride  of  the  State,  and  no 
new  State  can  boast  of  better.  And  as  goes 
California,  so  will  go  all  the  Pacific  slope. 
There  will  be  no  better  schools  in  the  land 
than  these  will  be.  Both  California  and  Ore- 
gon have  determined  to  have  a  College  or 
University  that  shall  be  like  a  steam  engine 
on  the  top  of  a  hill,  to  draw  up  what  is  at 
the   bottom  of  the   hill.      In    every  neighbor- 


MORALS   AND   RELIGION.  267 

hood,  it  is  already  true,  that  the  schoolmaster 
is  abroad.  The  churches,  of  course,  must  be  in 
their  infaucy,  but  they  are  well  organized, 
manned  with  an  able,  devoted,  and  talented 
ministry.     They  have  the  right  ring  to  them.* 

The  Sabbath  is  far  better  observed  than  I 
expected ;  and  while  six  military  companies 
march  through  the  city,  to  fife  and  drum, 
every  Sabbath,  and  strike  the  stranger  very 
unpleasantly,  yet  they  go  out  into  the  coun- 
try to  spend  the  day.  I  am  happy  to  say 
that  they  are  Germans^  or  Italians.  No  com- 
pany of  Americans  thus  desecrates  the  day. 

And  as  to  Sabbath  Schools,  they  are  per- 
fectly bewitching.  I  have  never  seen  so  large 
a  proportion  of  the  population  gathered  into 
Sabbath  Schools,  nor  finer  schools.     Whatever 

*  Among  these  ministers  I  found  Rev.  Drs.  Stone,  Scud- 
der,  Eels,  Wadsworth,  Moar,  Dwinell,  Professors  Durant, 
Willey,  and  many  others  like  them  —  inferior,  certainly, 
to  no  men  in  the  land.  The  other  denonunations  are 
equally  fortunate  in  their  clergymen  —  all  wide-awake  men. 


268  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

these  people  take  hold  of,  they  do  it  with  a 
heartiness  that  is  truly  refreshing.  I  attend- 
ed the  State  Convention  of  Sabbath  Schools, 
and  also  the  State  Convention  of  the  Young 
Me^'s  Christimi  Association,  and  was  most 
highly  gratified  and  satisfied  with  the  earnest- 
ness, the  judiciousness,  and  the  success,  with 
which  the  working  power  of  those  churches 
is  brought  out.  There  is  no  narrowness  or 
bigotry  of  denomination  apparent.  They  work 
together  in  the  common  cause,  and  for  the 
common  Master. 

I  may  say,  too,  that,  probably  owing  to  the 
climate,  you  find  the  finest  set  of  children 
in  that  country  that  you  ever  saw  —  the  fairest, 
fullest,  and  most  perfect  physical  develop- 
ment. I  was  struck  with  this,  and  feel  as- 
sured that  here  will  be  developed  a  physical 
manhood,  such  as  has  nowhere  yet  been 
found.  It  can  hardly  be  otherwise,  when 
every  child  can  live   out   of  doors  more   than 


THE    GREAT    PLATEAU.  269 

half  of  every  year,  and  will  prefer  to  do  so. 
The  question  they  ask  is,  not,  to  what  de- 
nomination does  a  man  belong,  not  what  his 
attainments,  but,  "What  can  the  fellow  do?'' 
And  this  standard  of  doing  something  and 
much,  with  the  climate  and  the  thousand  in- 
centives to  effort,  will,  in  the  future,  I  have 
no  doubt,  produce,  not  giants,  but  a  noble 
race  of  men,  if  not  superior  to  any  now  in 
the  world. 

On  the  great  Eastern  continent,  west  of 
the  Yellow  Sea,  is  a  great  plateau  of  the  most 
fertile  land,  surrounded  by  mountains,  watered 
by  vast  rivers,  connected  by  a  canal  seven  hun- 
dred miles  long,  teeming  wuth  multitudes 
of  human  beings,  packed  together,  and  hardly 
getting  food  enough  to  sustain  life.  Nearly 
a  third  of  earth's  population  are  crowded 
together  there.  The  people  are  almost  as 
ancient  as  the  flood,  and  were  probably  there 
when  Abraham  was  in  Canaan.    Two  strong  men 


270  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

have  tried  to  impress  their  own  minds  upon  the 
people  — Buddha,  in  India,  who  lived  about  six 
hundred  years  before  Christ,  and  Confucius,  in 
China,  who  lived  about  a  century  later.  You 
now  understand  me  to  be  speaking  of  China  and 
the  Chinese.  The  latter  of  these  men  gave  laws 
and  religion ;  but  the  law^s  were  barbarous,  and 
the  religion  had  no  stamp  of  divinity  upon 
it,  carried  no  divine  sanctions  with  it,  and 
only  set  human  character,  like  mortar,  with- 
out elevating  or  advancing  it;  the  most  it 
hoped  to  do,  was  to  stand  still.  So  the  gen- 
erations have  come  and  gone  —  now  and  then 
a  vast  revolution ;  but  as  President  Hopkins, 
in  his  admirable  sermon  before  the  College 
Society,  says,  it  was  "the  mountain-pressed 
giant  simply  turning  over,"  "There  have 
been,"  he  also  sftys,  "  stability  and  order,  but 
a  stability  without  growth,  and  an  order  with- 
out progress."  Such  is  the  amount  of  human 
life    in    China,    that   men   take   the    place    of 


CHARACTER   OF   THE    CHINAMAN.  271 

beasts,  and  a  dozen  men  will  do  the  work 
of  a  single  horse,  for  the  wages  which  one 
horse  ought  to  earn.  /  The  result  is,  that  this 
people,  half  starved  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration, are  dwarfed  —  not  larger  or  heavier 
than  our  women.  Still  the  Chinaman  is  lithe, 
strong,  active,  enduring,  quick  to  imitate, 
quick  to  learn,  mild  in  disposition,  taught  to 
respect  law  and  obey  magistrates,  kind  to 
animals,  industrious,  willing,  economical,  and 
able  to  live  on  very  little.  His  religion  is 
gloomy,  and  suicide  is  more  common  than 
with  other  races.  The  overgrowth  of  pop- 
ulation induces  infanticide  and  a  disregard 
to  human  life.  The  Chinaman  has  very  little 
self-respect,  and  is,  of  course,  tricky,  deceit- 
ful, and  untruthful;  but  he  is  never  mali- 
cious or  revengefuhj 

I  am  speaking  of  the  mass.  Among  the 
educated  and  mercantile  classes,  there  are  fine 
specimens  of  integrity  and  all  the   commercial 


272  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

virtues.  The  following  beautiful  speech  was 
made  a  few  days  ago,  by  a  pure-blooded  Chi- 
nese merchant,  Choy-chew,  at  an  entertainment 
in  Chicago  :  — 

"  Eleven  years  ago  I  came  from  my  home  in 
China  to  seek  my  fortune  in  your  great  Repub- 
lic. I  landed  on  the  golden  shore  of  Califor- 
nia, utterly  ignorant  of  your  language,  unknown 
to  any  of  your  people,  a  stranger  to  your  cus- 
toms and  laws,  and  in  the  minds  of  some  an 
intruder,  one  of  that  race  whose  presence  is 
deemed  a  positive  injury  to  the  public  pros- 
perity. But,  gentlemen,  I  found  both  kindness 
and  justice.  I  found  that,  above  the  prejudice 
which  had  been  formed  against  us,  there  flowed 
a  deep,  broad  stream  of  popular  equality ;  that 
the  hand  of  friendship  was  extended  to  the 
people  of  every  nation ;  and  that  even  China- 
men must  live,  be  happy,  successful,  and  re- 
spected in  '  free  America.'  I  gathered  knowl- 
edge in  your  public  schools  ;  I  learned  to  speak 


THE  chinaman's  spj2ech.  273 

as  you  do,  to  read  and  write  as  you  do,  to  act 
and  thiuk  as  you  do ;  and,  gentlemen,  I  rejoice 
that  it  is  so ;  that  I  have  been  able  to  cross  this 
vast  continent  without  the  aid  of  an  interpreter ; 
that  here  in  the  heart  of  the  United  States,  I 
can  speak  to  you  in  your  own  familiar  speech, 
and  tell  you  how  much,  how  very  much,  I  ap- 
preciate your  hospitality,  how  grateful  I  feel 
for  the  privileges  and  advantages  I-  have  en- 
joyed in  your  glorious  country,  and  how  ear- 
nestly I  hope  that  your  example  of  enterprise, 
energy,  vitality,  and  national  generosity,  may 
be  seen  and  understood,  as  I  see  and  under- 
stand it,  by  our  government.  Mr.  Burlingame 
has  done  much  to  promote  good  feeling  in 
China  towards  the  American  nation.  He  made 
himself  well  acquainted  with  the  authorities  at 
Pekin.  He  won  their  confidence  to  a  remarka- 
ble degree.  He  is  an  excellent  man,  and,  I 
believe,  if  his  advice  is  received  and  acted 
upon,  China  will  soon  be  the  cordial  friend  of 
18 


274  THE    SUNSET    LAND. 

all  the  commercial  powers  of  the  earth.  Al- 
ready we  are  doing  something  in  the  way  of 
progress  in  modern  improvements.  Steam- 
boat lines  have  been  established  on  our  rivers, 
and  the  telegraph  will  soon  connect  us  with  the 
wonderful  sovereignty  of  the  Western  Hemi- 
sphere, where  the  people  rule,  where  every- 
thing proclaims  peace  and  good-will  to  all. 
China  must  brush  away  the  dust  of  her  anti- 
quity, and,  looking  across  the  Pacific,  behold 
and  profit  by  the  new  lessons  of  the  new 
world.  We  trust  our  visit,  gentlemen,  may 
be  productive  of  good  results  to  all  of  us ; 
that  the  two  great  countries.  East  and  West, 
China  and  America,  may  be  bound  forever 
together  in  friendship,  and  that  a  Chinaman  in 
America,  or  an  American  in  China,  may  find 
like  protection  and  like  consideration  in  his 
search  for  happiness  and  wealth." 

The  Chinaman  will  often  learn  our  alphabet, 
and  even  to  put  syllables  together,  at  a  single 


JOSS-HOUSES.  275 

lesson.  He  is  a  good  washer  and  cook,  and 
will  make  a  little  go  a  great  way  for  himself, 
or  for  his  employer.  Such  is  the  Chinaman, 
when  I  have  added  that  he  is  an  idolater,  is 
superstitious,  carries  his  temples  and  gods  with 
him,  lives  upon  rice  and  tea,  and  smokes  opium 
with  his  tobacco  when  he   can  get  it. 

Though  I  went  ink)  their  Joss-house,  or 
Temple,  yet,  not  being  able  to  communicate 
with  the  old  priest,  I  could  not  understand 
much  of  their  worship.  There  seemed  to  be 
two  parts  or  rooms.  In  the  first  were  various 
hieroglyphics,  in  large  gilt  letters,  and  images, 
and  abundance  of  little  Joss-sticks,  or  candles, 
which  are  to  be  bought  and  burnt  before  the 
idol,  to  take  away  sin ;  the  sins  are  removed  as 
the  stick  burns.  I  was  told  that  these  are  very 
much  sought  after  by  dissolute  women. 

In  the  second  room,  was  a  kind  of  table  or 
altar,  on  which  lay  two  pieces  of  wood,  flat  on 
.one  side  and  rounded  on  the  other,  very  much 


27G  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

like  a  pea-pod  split  open.  These  the  priest 
takes  up,  the  faces  meeting,  and  drops  them 
on  the  table.  If  they  fall  and  remain  on  the 
round  side,  yon  are  to  have  good  luck ;  if  on 
the  flat  side,  bad  luck;  and  they  fall  so,  nine- 
teen times,  at  least,  out  of  twenty.  You  may 
now  buy  "good  luck,"  by  paying  the  priest 
a  small  sum  of  money.  'Beyond  that  table,  and 
behind  a  kind  of  screen,  were  three  idols,  be- 
dizened by  gilt,  and  each  in  a  kind  of  niche 
or  recess.  The  left  hand  one  was  the  god  of 
medicine  or  health ;  the  middle  one,  "  the  best 
woman  that  ever  lived,"  i.  e.,  the  goddess  of 
purity;  and  the  third  one,  on  the  right,  the 
god  of  gold,  or  riches.  There  was  a  large  hand- 
bell, used,  it  would  seem,  to  wake  up  the  god, 
before  propitiating  him,  by  burning  sticks  or 
gilded  or  silver  paper  before  his  little  shrine. 
There  was  no  provision  for  social  worship,  or 
teaching  of  any  kind.  All  seemed  planned  to 
let  the  votary  go  directly  to  the  god  whose  fr.vor 


CHINESE    IN    MULTITUDES.  277 

ho  was  most  anxious  to  obtain.  It  seemed  to 
be  the  lowest  kind  of  idolatry,  the  very  gods 
being  hideous  in  shape  and  countenance. 

When  the  gold  mines  were  discovered,  their 
rcpoi-t  went  out  into  all  the  earth.  Thousands 
of  Chinamen  were  soon  scattered  over  Califor- 
nia, digging  gold.  When  the  railroad  was  to 
be  built,  they  were  on  hand  and  ready  to  en- 
gage by  thousands.  The  more  they  are  known, 
the  more  their  labor  is  in  demand ;  and  now, 
there  are  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  already 
on  our  shores,  and  within  a  year  that  number 
is  to  be  doubled,  and  they  will  probably  be 
numbered  by  millions  in  a  very  few  years.  They 
could  send  out  forty  millions,  equal  to  the  pop- 
ulation of  our  nation,  and  be  benefited  by  the 
depletion.  They  can  all,  without  exception, 
read  and  write  in  their  own  language. 

The  great  besetting  sin  of  the  Chinese,  is 
their  inordinate  love  of  gambling.  Every  even- 
ing, as   you  pass  along  a  Chinese  street,  you 


278  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

will  hear,  here  and  there,  a  strange  din,  which 
you  suppose  is  meant  for  music.  The  doors 
and  windows  of  every  shop  are  wide  open. 
That  shop  where  you  hear  music  is  a  gam- 
bling shop.  As  you  enter,  you  notice,  on  the 
right  hand  and  on  the  left,  a  high  counter, 
nearly  as  high  as  the  chin.  In  the  centre  of 
the  counter  is  a  place  marked  out,  four  square, 
perhaps  ten  inches  square.  The  sides  of  this 
square  are  numbered  one,  two,  three',  and  four. 
You  want  to  try  your  fortune.  You  put  down, 
say  four  bits,  i.  e.,  fifty  cents,  or  silver  half 
dollar.  That  must  be  laid  at  the  side  numbered 
four.  A  man  sits  by,  having  copper  coin  before 
him  about  as  large  as  our  old-fashioned  cent 
piece.  He  has  quite  a  heap  of  them,  each  with 
a  square  hole  in  the  middle  of  it.  With  a  little 
square  stick,  about  as  long  as  a  goose-quill,  he 
now  counts  these  coins,  carefully  putting  the 
end  of  the  stick  in  the  square  hole.  If,  when 
he  has  counted  up  to  a  certain  number,  —  which 


CHINESE   GAMBLING.  279 

he  docs  with  astonishing  rapidity,  —  there  be  a 
remainder, — one,  two,  three,  or  four,  —  the 
man  who  put  down  the  silver,  gains  so  many 
bits,  but  loses  his  forfeit,  —  on  some  principle 
which  I  could  not  comprehend.  I  could  see, 
however,  that  the  bank  or  saloon  had  decidedly 
the  lion's  share.  On  both  sides  these  gamblers 
stand.  At  the  end  of  the  room,  behind  a  par- 
tition, about*  a  yard  or  four  feet  high,  sit  the 
musicians,  who  both  play  and  sing.  But  of  all 
musical  instruments  ever  invented,  of  all  sounds 
ever  put  forth  as  music,  of  all  contortions  of 
faces  ever  made,  you  now  see  the  superlative. 
The  music  wails  at  times  like  a  sick  animal,  or 
screeches  like  cats  under  your  chamber-win- 
dow, in  a  dark  night. 

Just  in  front  of  the  half  dozen  musicians, 
who  often  relieve  one  another,  is  a  table  with 
a  huge  tea-pot  on  it,  holding,  perhaps,  two  gal- 
lons of  most  delicious  tea,  —  free  to  all,  —  and 
which  they  quaff  out   of    little  shallow,    china 


280  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

bowls,  without  cream  or  sugar.  But  whether 
they  sing,  or  drink  tea,  or  gamble,  they  smoke 
their  long  pipes,  with  tobacco  medicated  with 
opium.  The  fumes  fill  the  room ;  your  head 
begins  to  swim,  and  to  grow  dizzy  ;  your 
stomach  grows  nauseated,  and  you  are  glad  to 
get  out  into  the  open  air,  satisfied  that  most 
who  gather  there,  will  spend  all  their  day's 
earnings  before  they  leave  the  hideous  place. 

Thus  far  they  feel  that  they  are  strangers, 
and  intend  and  expect  to  go  back  to  their 
country.  All  their  dead  are  carried  back  for 
burial.  Over  twelve  hundred  bodies,  as  is  esti- 
mated, are  now  annually  carried  back  to  China, 
at  a  cost  of  one  hundred  dollars  each,  in  gold. 
The  State  of  California  has  a  law  that  every 
man  who  works  in  the  mines  shall  pay  a  tax 
of  four  dollars  a  month,  unless  he  is  a  citizen, 
or  declares  his  intention  to  become  one ;  but 
no  Chinaman  has,  so  far,  ever  signified  his 
purpose   or  wish   to  become  a   citizen,  though 


THE   CHINESE   TO   COME.  281 

there    are     thousands     engaged    in    gold-dig- 
ging- 

And  where  and  what  is  to  be  the  end  of 
this  thins:  ?  Our  Irish  friends  in  California 
have  risen  up  against  the  Chinese,  and  abused 
them,  and  declared  they  shall  not  come  to  our 
shores.  They  might  as  well  go  down  to  the 
Golden  Gate,  and  say  that  the  tide  shall  not 
come  in,  with  the  Pacific  Ocean  behind  it. 
\They  can  no  more  be  stopped  than  water  dan 
be  prevented  from  running  down  hill.  Inter- 
communication is  such,  that  labor  will  go  where 
it  is  best  paid.  Nothing  can  keep  back  the 
myriads  of  starving  people  in  China.  And 
besides,  the  thing  that  we  now  want,  —  the 
great  material  want  of  the  country,  —  is  cheap 
labor.  5  And  whoever  will  furnish  that,  will  find 
enough  to  employ  him.  A  few  years  ago,  and 
the  employees  in  the  factories  at  Lowell  were 
all  American  girls.  They  determined,  and  the 
owners  determined,  that  none  but  American  help 


282  THE    SUNSET    LAND. 

should  be  employed.  But  now,  there  is  not 
over  one  American  girl,  we  are  told,  to  a  thou- 
sand Irish.  That  is  all  right,  and  is  in  accord- 
ance with  unalterable  laws. 

Now,  as  to  our  Irish  friends  saying  "  the 
Chinese  shall  not  come,"  I  should  like  to  talk 
with  an  honest,  warm-hearted  Irishman  on  this 
point.  I  would  say,  "  Now,  look  here,  friend  ; 
I  know,  and  you  know,  that  all  that  the  Irish- 
man is  to-day,  is  what  our  country  has  made 
him.  He  came  here  poor,  scorned,  and  op- 
pressed. We  have  lifted  him  up  to  be  a  citizen, 
—  to  be  on  an  equality  with  ourselves.  He 
owns  farms,  has  millions  of  money  in  the  Sav- 
ings Banks,  has  a  good  home,  and  his  children 
are  educated  at  the  public  expense ;  and  now, 
for  him  to  rise  and  say  that  any  other  poor, 
oppressed  people  shall  not  come  here  and  re- 
ceive the  same  blessings,  is  a  meanness  so 
despicable,  that  no  Irishman  ought  ever  to  be 
guilty  of  it.  He  ought  to  blush  to  name  the 
thing." 


RESULTS  OF  THEIR  COMING.      283 

But  what  is  to  be  the  result  of  this  influx  of 
Chiuamen?  No  mortal  can  say.  The  first 
effect  will  be  to  expedite  the  building  of  rail- 
roads and  developing  the  resources  of  our 
country.  Already  all  the  railroads  west  of 
Chicago  are  negotiating  at  what  price  they  will 
transport  them,  and  have  fixed  upon  a  cent  and 
a  half  a  mile,  j  Another  effect,  immediate,  will 
be  to  stop  the  strikes  among  workmen  —  a 
curse  to  themselves  and  a  curse  to  the  com- 
munity. In  the  factories  o^San  Francisco  they 
had  none  but  Irish,  paying  them  three  dollars  a 
day  in  gold.  They  struck,  and  demanded  four 
dollars.  Immediately  their  places,  numbering 
three  hundred,  were  supplied  by  Chinamen  at  one 
dollar  a  day  —  and  superior  workmen  they  are. 
So  it  will  be  all  over  the  country ;  for  all  over 
the  country  they  will  come,  and  be  welcomed.  / 
Well,  you  will  ask,  won't  this  be  a  great 
injury  to  our  Celtic  and  Teutonic  workmen  now 
among  us  ?     I  answer,  no  :  I  believe  it  will  be  a 


284  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

great  blessing  to  every  mother's  son  of  them. 
And  how  do  I  make  that  out?  I  will  tell  you. 
It  will  show  them  that  the  sooner  they  cease  to 
be  Irishmen  or  Germans,  and  become  Ameri- 
cans, the  better.  It  will  put  them  to  educat- 
ing their  children.  It  will  scatter  them  on  our 
farms,  and  on  farms  of  their  own.  It  will  be  a 
power  under  them  to  lift  them  up.  It  will  be  a 
power  behind,  to  push  them  forward.  They 
will  see  that  they  must  rise  or  sink.  They 
must  gain  intelligence  and  skill  enough  to  em- 
ploy this  new  power,  or  they  must  work  for  itTl 
The  question  cannot  be  settled  by  the  shillaleh 
or  the  fist,  the  dirk  or  the  pistol,  but  by  intelli- 
gence and  manly  character.  And  if  any  one 
doubts  which  race  wins,  he  does  not  look  at  it 
as  I  do.  What  will  be  the  effect  on  the  negro? 
Good,  I  have  no  doubt.  It  will  make  him  feel 
the  necessity  of  working,  not  by  fits  and  starts, 
but  continuously,  and  of  being  economical  and 
frugal.     Placed  side  by  side,  the  Chinese  will 


COLONIZEES   OF   THE   EARTH  —  WHO  ?      285 

be  the  educator,  and  the  negro  will  rise.  J  But 
wh?it,  say  you,  will  be  the  result  on  the  govern- 
ment of  this  country  —  creating  here  a  con- 
glomerate mass,  such  as  our  form  of  govern- 
ment never  contemplated?  ^Yill  not  these 
Foreigners  at  some  day,  perhaps  not  distant,  be 
able  to  take  this  nation  into  their  own  hands, 
and  become  its  Kulers?  I  reply,  no,  and  that 
because  there  are  some  things  that  will  prevent 
it,  deeper  than  numbers  or  votes.  There  are 
certain  organic  laws  that  override  all  human 
plans  and  notions,  and  to  these  I  want  now 
briefly  to  allude.     Will  you  follow  me? 

/The  great  colonizers  of  the  earth  are  the 
Anglo-Saxons.  They  scatter  and  plant  them- 
selves in  any  climate,  create  a  government,  and 
retain  their  ground.  This  implies  character  — 
to  plan,  perseverance  to  carry  out  the  plans, 
and  the  power  of  governing.  /  East,  West,  in 
India,  or  in  America,  the  results  are  the  same. 
And  when  the  question  is,  will  this  race  retain 


286  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

its  supremacy  in  this  land,  the  answer  must  be 
found  in  the  peculiar  character  of  this  race  — 
the  Anglo-Saxon. 

We  are  far  less  imaginative  than  the  races 
around  us,  and,  of  consequence,  far  less  impul- 
sive. That  fiery  eloquence  which  is  found  in 
the  Welsh  and  in  the  Irish,  and  those  picture- 
words  which  make  the  Scotch  language  so  fas- 
cinating, we  know  nothing  about.  Even  the 
tragedies  of  Shakespeare  are  calm,  sober,  strong 
utterances  in  pure  English,  compared  with  the 
every-day  language  of  the  Highlander.  The 
Celtic  people  love  to  follow  leaders  in  politics, 
priests  in  religion,  and  to  be  superstitious, 
while  we  want  to  be  self-reliant,  self-asserting, 
and  have  individuality,  in  every  possible  way. 
The  French  are  mercurial.  They  are  more 
lively,  more  impulsively  eloquent,  more  easily 
excited  to  enthusiasm,  and  more  successful  in 
matters  of  taste.  Educate  the  French  mind 
thoroughly,  and  it  becomes  a  wonder  in  meta- 


THE   ANGLO-SAXON.  287 

physics,  mighty  in  abstract  speculations,  but 
wholly  unpractical.  The  Anglo-Saxon  says, 
"  Bring  on  your  theories ;  I  don't  especially 
object  to  theories,  but  cui  bono  —  what's  the 
use?"  Then  he  calmly  thinks  and  balances 
matters,  and  lets  the  judgment  come  in,  cool 
and  sober.  He  puts  his  imagination  in  abey- 
ance. He  has  his  eye  intently  fixed  on  what  is 
practical.  Others  may  have  more  dash,  but  he 
has  pluck.  In  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  the 
Anglo-Saxon  stood  in  solid,  immovable  columns, 
and  let  the  French  dash  on  him  with  the  finest 
cavalry  the  world  ever  saw.  The  cavalry  of 
Wellington  were  drawn  up  where  they  could 
overlook  the  whole  battle-field,  and  were  com- 
manded to  —  do  nothing  but  wait !  There  they 
did  wait,  cool,  collected,  calmly  abiding  their 
time.  The  very  horses  seemed  to  feel  the  oc- 
casion, and  hardl}^  champed  the  bit.  There 
they  waited  for  eight  long  hours,  when  the 
word  "  charge  "  came  ;  and  charge  they  did,  and 


288  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

scattered  their  foes  like  chaff.  No  other  race 
would  have  done  so.  "I  abide  my  time"  is  the 
motto  of  the  race  —  persevering,  and  ever 
guided  by  "common  sense."  You  will  notice, 
too,  that  it  is  the  Latin  races  who  have,  as  a 
whole,  stuck  to  Popery  —  a  system  that  gratifies 
the  imagination,  gratifies  the  taste,  and  abounds 
in  superstitions,  as  much  certainly  as  they  can 
swallow,  let  their  capacity  be  what  it  may. 
Against  all  this,  our  race  early  rebelled.  Long 
before  Luther  was  born,  our  own  glorious 
Wickliffe,  the  Father  of  bur  Eeformation,  thun- 
dered in  his  own  country  from  the  pulpit,  and 
gave  his  wonderful  translation  of  the  New 
Testament  to  the  world,  as  the  strong  pillar 
against  which  men  might  lean. 

We  complain  that  our  Congress  and  our  Le- 
gislatures meet  and  spend  their  time  in  speech- 
making.  Why,  they  can't  help  it !  It  is  a 
part  of  the  very  nature  of  the  Saxon  race, 
to  get  together,  to  discuss  and  plan,  and  act 


SAXON   CHARACTER.  289 

together.  You  may  trace  it  back  to  our 
early  ancestry.  Trial  by  jury  grew  out  of 
this,  and  so  did  Parliaments.  This  leads  us 
to  discuss,  to  respect  one  another's  opinions, 
whether  we  arc  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  in  the 
town  meeting,  or  in  the  little  school  district 
meeting.  It  leads  us  not  only  to  plan,  but 
to  act  together  for  a  common  object,  which 
is  for  the  good  of  all.  We  may  add  to  this, 
it  causes  us  to  reverence  and  obey  the  laws 
which  we  ourselves  have  enacted,  and  which 
have  proceeded  from  ourselves.  To  respect 
our  own  laws,  becomes  self-respect.  There 
is  a  great  amount  of  dormant  will  in  the 
Saxon,  and  sooner  or  later,  he  makes  it  felt. 
The  little  boy  who  requested  the  teamster  to 
stop,  that  he  might  ride,  and,  on  being  re- 
fused, threw  himself  coolly  down  on  the  track 
where  the  wheel  must  go  over  and  crush 
him,  if  it  did  not  stop,  —  was  a  true  Saxon. 
Now  it  seems  to  me  that  these  umistakable, 
19 


290  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

natural  endowments  fit  our  race  remarkably 
for  colonizing  the  earth,  for  enlargement,  and 
for  governing.  The  one  involves  the  other. 
While  other  races  are  often  convulsed,  —  (see 
the  twenty-two  revolutions  in  China  without  a 
particle  of  progress,  the  violent  and  bloody 
revolutions  in  France,  Spain,  Italy,  and  South 
America,  —  you  see  that  while  they  are  unable 
to  hope  for  any  change  for  the  better,  except 
by  wading  in  blood) ,  —  our  race  efiects  the 
greatest  changes,  amounting  to  a  revolution 
in  results,  by  means  entirely  peaceful.  The 
recent  disinthralment  of  the  church-establish- 
ment in  Ireland,  is  an  example  of  what  I 
mean.  In  all  other  races,  when  such  changes 
are  made,  you  expect  riot,  bloodshed,  and 
anarchy,  more  or  less.  I  have  said,  that  we 
are  the  great  colonizers  of  the  earth.  The 
French,  the  Spaniards,  the  Italians,  the  Irish, 
have  never  established  great  colonies,  and 
managed   and   governed   them ;     they  are   not 


IRISH   CHARACTER.  291 

the  races  to  do  it.  No  other  race  would  have 
gone  to  California,  and  to  Oregon,  and  there  cre- 
ated their  own  government  so  peacefully,  and 
there  waited  in  patience  till  the  nation  was 
ready  to  cast  the  folds  of  its  flag  over  thein, 
and  still  wait  and  work,  till  their  raih-oad 
brought  them  to  us.  y 

The  Englishman  asks,  "What  would  the  Irish 
be  in  the  United  States  as  rulers?  What 
would  they  be  without  the  Anglo-Saxon? 
They  are  useful  elements  of  society,  but 
alone  they  would  cut  a  sorry  figure.  If  Ire- 
land could  be  towed  off  into  the  middle  of 
the  Atlantic,  and  its  northern  parts  emptied 
of  its  population  back  into  Scotland,  and  left 
to  manage  its  own  affairs  at  its  own  cost, 
we  should  have  a  sorry  specimen  of  what  such 
a  people  would  do  in  the  way  of  govern- 
ment." It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  indorse 
or  refute  these  sentiments ;  they  are  the  woi;ds 
of  a  great  and  a  good   man.     You   can  judge 


292  THE   SUNSET   LAND. 

of  their  correctness,  and  of  tlie  allowance, 
if  any,  to  be  made,  for  the  English  feeling. 
But  this  I  may  say,  that  it  does  not  seem 
very  likely  to  me  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  race, 
having  founded  and  created  this  government, 
and  having  the  original  traits  of  character 
which  they  have,  will  ever.yield  this  government 
to  any  other  race.  I  plant  myself  there. 
Add  to  this,  that  God  hath  given  us  a  language 
that  seems  fitted  to  become  almost  universal. 
Men  won't  ride  in  an  ox-cart  when  they  can  go 
in  the  stage,  nor  in  the  stage  when  they  can 
go  in  the  cars,  nor  in"  a  scow  when  they  can 
go  in  a  steamboat.  It  is  found  that  there 
is  no  language  in  the  world,  so  terse  and  so 
condensed  as  the  English.  It  is  becoming  the 
language  of  the  ocean  telegraph  all  through 
Europe,  and  probably  will  be  through  the 
earth.  They  won't  write  messages  in  any  lan- 
guage but  the  best.  And  what  is  best  for 
the    telegraph,    will    be   the    best   medium   by 


ENGLISH   LANGUAGE.  293 

which  to  convey  all  thought;  the  world  can- 
not  use  any  instrument  but  the  quickest,  and 
thus  the  simple  wires  on  the  poles,  stretching 
round  the  world,  may  change  the  language  of 
a  world,  and  bring  one  race  to  be  uppermost. 
Or,  if  you  say  they  use  the  English  language 
because  the  English  Operator  is  so  superior  to 
any  other,  then  the  argument  accumulates  for 
the  superiority  of  the  race  in  handling  the 
world. 

God,  in  his  providence,  reserved  the  great 
western  slope  of  this  continent,  looking  off 
on  the  Pacific,  till  the  Atlantic  States  had 
become  settled,  their  ^soil  much  exhausted, 
their  institutions  planted  and  tried,  their  pop- 
ulation flowing  out,  and  carrying  their  habits, 
and  schools,  and  churches,  into  the  great 
Interior  Valley,  and  made  that  great  basin 
safe ;  and  then  he  suddenly  swept  off  the 
imbecile  races  that  roamed  over  that  slope, 
and  annexed  it   to  our  inheritance.     It  was   a 


294  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

new  world,  having  a  new  climate,  a  new  soil, 
new  and  unfailing  mines,  forests  that  over- 
whelmed the  spectator  with  awe,  fertility 
scarcely  equalled  in  the  annals  of  the  world,  and 
peopled  with  the  most  energetic  men  that 
could  be  culled  from  the  civilized  world,  our 
own  people  vastly  preponderating. 

And  what  are  the  plans  of  Infinite  Wisdom 
in  all  this?  I  believe,  to  give  us  an  opportu- 
nity to  work  out  a  higher  civilization,  more 
and  better  means  of  educational  development, 
a  nobler  exposition  of  human  capabilities, 
and  a  loftier  type  of  spiritual  Christianity.  I 
believe  that  vast  slope,  so  rich  in  mineral, 
agricultural,  and  manufacturing  wealth,  so  little 
that  is  wasteful  in  climate,  is  put  into  the 
hands  of  men  who  will  never  do  what  is 
mean,  never  settle  down  into  sloth,  never  re- 
fuse to  meet  responsibilities,  and  never  be 
satisfied  with  a  meagre  development.  I  be- 
lieve, too,  that   God  has    pity  for    other    por- 


CHINESE    PROBLEM.  295 

tions  of  his  great  family,  and  is  bringing  here, 
by  thousands,  and  most  likely  by  millions, 
that  race  who  must  be,  from  their  past,  life- 
long minors,  intrusted  to  our  care,  making  us 
responsible  for  their  receiving  kind  treatment, 
careful  training,  and,  above  all,  the  Gospel  of 
His  mercy.  What  shall  we  do  with  the  Chi- 
nese? is  said  to  be  the  great  problem  of  this 
generation.  I  anslvcr,  it  is  a  problem  we 
cannot  solve,  nor  are  we  called  to  do  it. 
God  is  sending  them  here,  and  we  cannot 
stop  the  stream.  Their  industry  will  add 
immensely  and  rapidly  to  our  wealth ;  they 
will  have  their  idol  temples  through  Califor- 
nia, in  New  York,  most  likely  in  Boston,  and 
very  likely  in  our  villages ;  that  we  cannot 
help.  If  they  are  to  let  us,  by  treaty,  build 
churches  and  enjoy  our  religion  in  China,  we 
must  allow  them  to  enjoy  their  idolatry  here. 
And  no  one  can  certainly  say  that  this  new  ele- 
ment will  not  change  the  centre  of  power  in 
the  world. 


296  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

But  won't  the  Chinese  be  abused,  outraged, 
and  almost  reduced  to  slavery  here?  I  an- 
swer, no.  We  have  Associations  to  protect  the 
dumb  beast  from  cruelty,  and,  if  necessary, 
we  shall  organize  similar  associations  to  protect 
the  Chinaman.  Cruelty  and  barbarism  will 
not  be  tolerated  at  this  day ;  the  press  will 
make  the  groans  of  the  distressed  ring  through 
the  land. 

You  will  see,  now,  why  I  look  upon  the 
Pacific  slope  as  so  important.  Our  gold  is 
there !  Our  silver  is  there !  Commerce  is 
making  herself  a  gi'eat  place  there !  Noble 
men  and  beautiful  children  are  there  !  Mul- 
titudes are  gathering  there!  Free  schools 
are  there  !  Colleges  are  being  planted  there  ! 
And  a  great  future  must  be  there ! 

I  stand  on  the  heights  of  the  Nevadas,  and 
I  look  off  over  mountain  and  valley,  till  I  see 
the  blue  waters  of  the  Pacific,  and  I  see 
centuries    crowding   into    single   years,    and   I 


•  THE    WEST   FOUND.  297 

see  showers  of  mercy,  which  have  hung  up  in 
the   dry   tiir,  descending   upon   that  wonderful 


"  Tyrants !  in  vain  ye  trace  the  wizard  ring, 
In  vain  ye  limit  mind's  unwearied  spring. 
What!  can  ye  lull  the  winged  winds  asleep, 
Arrest  the  rolling  world,  or  chain  the  deep  ?  * 

No !  the  wild  wave  contemns  your  sceptred  hand ; 
It  rolled  not  back  when  Canute  gave  command." 

From  the  place  where  the  sun  rises,  have 
our  race  been  travelling,  towards  where  the 
sun  sets,  to  the  present  time.  Every  gen- 
eration has  seen 

"  Westward  the  star  of  empire  take  its  way," 

till  that  star  can  no  longer  guide  the  poor  wan- 
derers farther.  In  that  long  march  of  ages, 
what  cities  and  nations  have  halted  long  enough 
to  grow,  and  mature*,  and  die !  what  graves 
have  belted  the  earth  !  But  the  West  is  found, 
and  the  Star  pauses.  Seventy-five  years  ago, 
probably  before  any  one  of  my  readers  was 
born,  1794,  there  lived  a  clergyman  in  one  of 


298  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

the  smallest  parishes  in  Connecticut.  While  in 
this  position  he  wrote  a  poem.  He  was  after- 
wards known  as  Timothy  D wight,  President  of 
Yale  College.  It  would  seem  as  if  he  must 
almost  have  been  a  prophet,  and  seen  what  we 
see,  when  he  penned  the  following  lines:  — 

*'  All  hail,  thou  western  world !  by  Heaven  designed 
Th'  example  bright,  to  renovate  mankind. 
Soon  shall  thy  sons  across  the  main  land  roam, 
And  claim  on  far  Pacific's  shore  their  home ; 
Their  rule,  religion,  manners,  arts,  convey, 
And  spread  their  freedom  to  the  Asian  sea. 
Where  erst  six  thousand  suns  have  rolled  the  year 
O'er  plains  of  slaughter,  and  o'er  wilds  of  fear, 
Towns,  cities,  fanes,  shall  lift  their  towery  pride ; 
The  village  bloom  on  every  streamlet's  side ; 
V     Proud  Commerce'  mole  the  western  surges  lave; 
The  long,  white  spire  lie  imaged  on  the  wave ; 
O'er  morn's  pellucid  main  expand  their  sails, 
And  the  starred  ensign  court  the  Korean  gales. 
Then  nobler  thoughts  shall  savage  trains  inform. 
Then  barbarous  passions  ^ease  the  heart  to  storm  : 
No  more  the  captive  circling  flames  devour ; 
Through  the  war  path  the  Indian  creep  no  more ; 
No  midnight  scout  the  slumbering  village  fire, 
Nor  the  scalped  infant  stain  his  gasping  sire ; 
But  peace  and  truth  illume  the  twilight  mind. 
The  Gospel's  sunshine,  and  the  purpose  kind. 


PROPHETIC    VISIONS.  299 

Where  marshes  teemed  with  death  shall  meads  unfold; 

Untrodden  cliffs  resign  their  stores  of  gold; 

The  dance  refined  on  Albion's  margin  move, 

And  her  lone  bowers  rehearse  the  tale  of  love. 

Where  slept  perennial  night,  siiall  Science  rise, 

And  new-born  Oxfords  cheer  the  evening  skies; 

Miltonic  strains  the  Mexic  hills  prolong. 

And  Louis  murmur  to  Sicilian  song. 

Then  to  new  climes  the  bliss  shall  trace  its  way, 

And  Tartar  deserts  hail  the  rising  day; 

From  the  long  torpor  startled  China  wake, 

Her  chains  of  misery  roused  Peruvia  break; 

Man  link  to  man,  with  bosom  bosom  twine,  ^-^ 

And  one  great  bond  the  house  of  Adam  join ; 

The  sacred  promise  full  completion  know, 

And  peace  and  piety  the  world  o'erliow."  * 

There  have  been  attempts  made  .to  keep  our 
foreign  population  separate,  —  to  have  schools 
in  German,  and  churches  in  German;  and  in 
the  great  settlements  of  Pennsylvania  this  has 

*  Explanatory  Notes  by  the  Author, 

Asian  Sea.    "  Pacific  Ocean." 

Korean.    "  Korea  is  a  large  peninsula  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Asia." 

Albion.  "New  Albion;  a  very  desirable  country,  on  the  western 
Bhore  of  America,  discovered  by  Sir  Francis  Drake."    (See  p.  4.) 

Mexic  hills.  "A.  range  of  mountains  [evidently  the  Rocky],  run- 
ning from  north  to  south,  at  the  distance  of  several  hundred  milea 
westward  of  the  Mississippi." 

Louis.    "  The  Mississippi." 

Sicilian  song.    •'  Pastoral  poetry." 


300  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

been  done ;  but  the  raikoads  that  have  been 
pushed  through  that  State,  are  letting  in  the 
English  language,  and  in  a  very  few  years 
nothing  but  English  will  be  spoken.  It  is 
inevitable. 

Our  nation  is  a  universal  solvent.  Put  the 
children  of  a  dozen  nations  into  our  free  schools, 
and  they  will  all  come  out  Americans.  And 
when  I  see  the  Germans  in  Hartford  and  New 
York  setting  up  and  demanding  German  schools, 
it  does  not  worry  me  in  the  least,  for  I  know 
it  cannot  ceme  to  anything.  Those  who  enjoy 
our  privileges  and  breathe  our  air,  must  become 
y/  Americanized.  They  cannot  help  it ;  and  that 
for  a  strong  reason,  viz.,  that  the  American  char- 
acter impresses  itself  upon  whatever  it  touches, 
^v/It  is  strong,  intelligent,  active,  direct,  practi- 
cal, and  is  everywhere  a  power.  I  assert  that 
it  is  not  boasting,  but  a  simple  truth,  to  say, 
there  is  no  character  on  earth  so  certain  to  im- 
press itself  on  the  world,  as  the  American. 


AMERICAN    ENERGY.  301 

Thrown  into  a  war,  hi  1860,  with  a  popula- 
tion of  only  thirty-one  millions,  with  no  Army 
and  no  Navy,  the  free  States,  in  four  years,  put 
one  and  a  half  million  of  armed  men  in  the  field, 
fought  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  battles, 
raised  the  navy  up  to  six  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  vessels  and  fifty-one  thousand  men ;  invent- 
ed the  Monitor,  that  nondescript  power;  laid 
the  nation  under  a  terrible  debt,  and  came  out 
of  the  war  victorious,  richer  in  men  and  in  prop- 
erty than  when  we  began ;  and  to-day  are  a 
power  in  the  earth,  at  least  fifty  fold  greater 
than  ever    before. 

Despotism  has  learned  that  there  is  no  people 
so  powerful  as  a  free,  intelligent  people,  who 
make  their  own  laws,  create  their  own  institu- 
tions, and,  if  necessary,  fight  for  them.  Mind 
you,  eighty  per  cent,  of  all  who  were  in  our 
armies  were  native-born  Americans.  At  this 
hour,  England  congratulates  herself  that  she  is 
emancipating  her   Catholic   Ireland    noiselessly 


w- 


302  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

and  without  blood.  I  may  safely  ask  if  she 
ever  could  or  would  have  done  it,  had  there 
not  gone  over  the  water  an  influence  from  this 
country,  which  she  is  quick  to  feel  and  slow 
to  acknowledge  ?  Even  Napoleon,  at  this  hour, 
feels  the  air  of  this  free  country,  and  is  trying 
to  loosen  the  ropes  by  which  he  has  held  the 
elephant,  which  he  is  afraid  to  hold  and  afraid 
to  let  go.  Other  nations  do  and  must  cut  one 
and  another  rope,  and  let  the  ship  of  State 
swing  and  ride  easier,  or  she  will  blow  up. 

j^The  Chinese  must  and  will  learn  our  lan- 
guage, gradually  adopt  onr  dress  and  customs, 
and  when  he  reads  our  Bible,  and  learns  our 
religion,  in  laying  aside  his  own  language  it 
will  be  comparatively^  easy  to  drop  his  idolatry, 
and  become  a  Christian  believer.  In  two  Sab- 
bath Schools,  I  have  seen,  on  an  average,  a 
hundred  Chinamen  in  each,  delighted  to  learn  to 
read  in  English,  and  having  the  Bible  for  their 
reading-book.     The  force,  the  cool  energy,  and 


MIXING   RACES.  303 

the  persistent  power  of  the  American  chai*- 
acter,  is  something  which  makes  a  deep  im- 
pression upon  weaker  races,  f 

[If,  then,  I  am  told,  as  I  am  almost  every 
day,  that  this  conglomerate  mass,  made  up 
of  Anglo-Saxons,  Europeans,  Africans,  Chi- 
namen, and  a  sprinkling  of  all  nations,  is 
hereafter  to  cement  into  a  sort  of  pudding- 
stone  race,  I  reply,  it  may  be  so,  but  I  do 
not  believe  it.  God  has  given  this  continent 
to  the  strongest  race  on  earth,  and  to  the  ^^ 
freest  and  best  educated  part  of  that  race, 
and  I  do  not  believe  he  is  going  to  let  it 
drop  out  of  hands  that  can  handle  the  globe, 
and  put  it  into  hands  that  are  hands  with- 
out  educated  brains.! 

It  is  putting  our  government,  and  our  civ- 
ilization, and  our  Educational  Institutions, 
and  our  Protestant  religion,  to  a  test  more 
severe  than  was  ever  put  upon  a  people. 
Eno^land,  the  old  hive,  is  full,  and  there   can 


304  THE   SUNSET   LAND. 

be  no    such  influx  of  foreign   elements   there ; 
but    here  they  come,   and   will   come  —  to  be 
scattered    over    a   vast     territory,    to     be    in- 
structed in  human  rights,    and  human  respon- 
sibilities,   and,    be   the    risk    great  or   small, 
i^  hanging  over  us   like    an   avalanche,  threaten- 
u  ing  to   fall   on   us    and   grind   us   to    powder, 
or  hanging  over   us  like    a    cloud,  to   be   dis- 
solved  in   fruitful   showers    to    gladden   every 
part    of    the     land,  —  be    it    the    chest    into 
which  the  giant  is  to  be  pressed,  and   the  lid 
shut  down,  and  the  chest  thrown  into  the  sea, 
or   be   it  the  treasure-box,    out  of  which   un- 
counted blessings  will  flow,  —  we  must  accept 
it,  and  feel,  that  for  wise  and  good  purposes, 
God   has    opened   the   door    of  hope   to   other 
portions   of  his   family,    and   is   sending  them 
here  to  share  our  inheritance,  and  to  be   en- 
lightened  and   blessed  by    our    sympathy   and 
kindness. 

You  now  see  why  I  have  attached  so  much 


FUTURE  OF  OUR  COUNTRY.       305 

importance  to  the  slope  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  On  that  slope  hangs  the  future 
of  this  country  I  Heretofore  we  have  said 
that  the  Great  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  is  to 
contain  the  numerical  population  of  the  coun- 
try, and  guide  its  destiny ;  and  so  it  would, 
had  it  not  been  that  the  whole  thing  is  al- 
tered by  settling  California,  and  bringing  the 
ocean  Isles,  and  China,  and  Japan,  and  all  the 
East  to  our  very  door,  and  had  it  not  been 
that  the  swarming,  teeming  population  •  of 
those  countries  have  found  out  that  here  is 
food,  and  here  labor  is  needed,  and  will  be 
rewarded,  and  hence  they  are  to  flow  in, 
like  the  waves  of  the  Pacific,  unceasingly, 
till  the  demands  for  labor  are  satisfied ; 
this  is  inevitable.  I  have  seen  single  steam- 
ers come  into  San  Francisco,  with  from  twelve 
hundred  to  fourteen  hundred  Chinamen  on 
board,  —  once  a  fortnight  each ;  and  hereafter 
there  must  arrive  two  such  ship-loads  weekly, 
20 


306  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

to  meet  the  engagements  already  made.     Thus 
the    Golden    Gate    has   become    the   gate-way 

^'  of  a  living  stream  of  humanity,  in  the 
forni  of  a  half-civilized  heathenism.  We 
have  now  to  learn  —  God  is  forcing  it  upon 
us  —  that  they,  as  well  as  we,  are  a  part  of 
God's  family,  and  must  be  cared  for  accord- 
ingly. They  may  seem  like  the  two  barley 
loaves  that  tumbled  into  the  camp  of  the 
Midianites ;  they  may  be  for  our  food  or 
for  our  ruin.  And  who,  at  this  hour,  tries 
to  cast  the  horoscope  of  his  country,  without 
taking  this  new  element  into  the  account, 
will   make   a   terrible   mistake. 

And  here  comes  in  a  thought  that  I  deem  of 
-  great  importance,  and  that  is,  the  destiny  of  the 

s /human  race  is  every  day  becoming  more  and 
more  closely  linked  together.  A  few  days  since, 
and  we  talked  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  as  a 
far-oif  people ;  now  they  are  our  next-door 
neighbors,    and   we    hardly   know   whether    to 


GREAT   PllOBLEMS   SOLVED.  307 

think  of  them  as  Americans  or  as  Foreigners. 
The  eighty  thousand  English  and  Americans 
in  Paris  cannot  be  forgotten  in  the  plans  and 
measures  of  the  French  Government. 

Oceans  and  mountains  were  made  to  keep 
nations  apart,  so  long  as  the  world  knew  no 
power  but  the  brute  jDOwer  of  war ;  but  since 
the  Prince  of  Peace  hath  created  such  facilities 
for  travel,  that,  practically,  there  "is  no  more 
sea,"  and  the  everlasting  mountains  have  bowed 
before  his  chariot,  and  the  nations  are  poured 
into  each  other  as  water,  the  whole  human 
family  are  to  work  out  the  same  destiny  and 
have  a  like  inheritance.  Everything  points  that 
way.  Everything  works  that  way.  I  look 
upon  the  generation  now  living,  and  soon  to 
live,  as  called  upon  to  decide  questions  wide  as 
the  earth,  and  to  solve  problems  that  will  affect 
the  whole  human  family.  Whether  we  will,  or 
no,  we  are  linked  in  with  all  the  rest,  and  we 
cannot  rise  without  lifting  them  up  with  us.     It 


v/ 


308  THE    SUNSET    LAND. 

means  something  to  live  now  —  far  more  than 
ever  before. 

I  must  add,  too,  that  the  world  is  rushing 
on  its  own  destiny  with  a  rapidity  never  be- 
fore known.  The  earth  is  becoming  smaller, 
and  time  is  becoming  longer.  A  month  now  is 
a  year,  compared  with  a  century  ago.  The 
man  who  builds  his  hopes  for  the  elevation  of 
his  race  on  science,  sees  science  advancing  as 
never  before.  The  man  who  looks  to  politics 
and  human  governments  to  create  a  millennium 
on  earth,  sees  the  principles  of  human  rights 
steadily  marching  on,  and  threatening  shortly 
to  tread  tyranny  under  foot.  The  man  who 
looks  to  education  to  renovate  the  world,  sees 
free  schools  everywhere  spreading,  and  Colleges 
endowed  most  richly,  and  springing  up  like 
mushrooms.  And  the  man  who  looks  to  the 
Bible  and  the  Church  of  God  to  usher  in  the 
day  of  "good  will  to  men,"  and  the  day  of 
God's  glory,  sees  that  everything  there  is  ad- 


INCREASE    OF   RELIGION.  309 

vaiK'ing;  that  lliice  fourths  of  the  population 
of  this  country  are  under  the  dominant  influ- 
ence of  the  chief  Protestant  churches;  that 
the  largest  increase  of  Christianity  in  the  world, 
during  the  present  century,  has  been  in  the 
United  States ;  that  every  church  reaches  a 
population  about  four  times  as  large  as  its 
membership  ;  that  the  increase  of  our  church 
members,  notwithstanding  the  great  influx  of 
foreign  and  Papal  population,  has  greatly  outrun 
the  increase  of  the  people ;  that  in  1800,  with 
a  population  of  about  five  million,  the  church 
members  were  three  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand ;  while  in  1860,  with  a  population  of 
thirty-one  million  four  hundred  and  forty  thou- 
sand, we  had  over  five  million  church  members, 
i.  e.,  the  ratio  of  professed  Christians  to  the 
population  was  one  to  fifteen  in  1800,  while  in 
1860  it  was  one  to  six.  We  may  add,  the 
vast  preponderance  of  talent,  skill,  enter- 
prise,   wealth,    and    manhood    of    the    nation 


310  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

is  under  the  direct  influence  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ. 

The  church  Edifices  in  this  country  in  1860 
amounted  to  fifty-four  thousand,  at  a  value  of 
one  hundred  and  seventy-one  million  dollars, 
and  the  number  had  increased  fifty  per  cent,  in 
the  ten  years  preceding  that.  The  edifices 
averaged,  for  the  Methodist,  two  thousand  dol- 
lars each  church ;  the  Baptists,  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  dollars  each ;  the  Presbyterians 
and  Congregationalists,  five  thousand  five  hun- 
dred dollars  each;  and  the  Roman  Catholics, 
three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-five 
dollars.  Between  1860  and  1866,  the  contribu- 
tions of  the  Protestants  in  this  country,  for 
benevolence,  were  two  million  two  hundred  ancj 
fifty  thousand  dollars  annually;  in  1866,  ovei 
five  million  dollars ;  and  the  sums  given  to  CoL 
leges  and  schools  of  a  high  grade,  have  been 
over  a  million  a  year  for  the  last  eight  years. 
And  all  this  relying  on  the  voluntary  principle, 
amici  the  burdens   of  a  great  war. 


DESTINY   OF   OUR   COUNTRY.  311 

Now  then,  kind  Reader,  if  I  fail  to  make  the 
right  impression  on  yon  during  the  few  minutes 
that  remain  before  I  close,  I  have  lost  the  great 
object  of  these  pages. 

I  believe  this  nation  has  a  mighty  destiny 
before  it ;  that  the  tide  of  time  rushes  as  never 
before ;  that  our  dangers  and  our  responsibili- 
ties are  inconceivably  great ;  that  the  Gospel, 
in  its  power  and  purity,  going  to  the  heart  and 
guiding  the  conscience,  and  controlling  the 
passions,  and  bringing  out  the  man  to  individ- 
ual responsibility  to  God,  is  the  great  power  on 
which  we  are  to  rely.  The  Church  of  God  is 
called  upon  for  money,  for  labor,  for  thought, 
for  faith,  and  for  love.  We  ought  to  see  that 
every  child  in  the  land  is  in  the  Sabbath  School ; 
—  one  school  in  every  neighborhood ;  that  the 
Home  Missionary  is  all  over  the  land,  treading 
every  mountain,  visiting  every  glen,  on  the 
banks  of  every  river,  preaching  Christ,  planting 
churches,  and  lifting  up  humanity.     We  ought 


312  THE    SUNSET    LAND. 

to  see  that  there  are  free  schools  everywhere, 
as  free  as  the  air  we  breathe,  and  Colleges  to 
educate  and  prepare  the  mind  to  act  in  clear 
light,  wdth  expanded  views,  and  with  noble 
ends.  We  must  cast  up  and  "  prepare  a  high- 
way for  our  God,"  and  then  occupy  that  high- 
way. 

You  will  say,  perhaps,  that  all  this  is  calling 
for  money,  money,  to  flow  like  water !  Truly 
it  is  !  Truly  it  is !  But  can  you  travel  fast, 
on  land  or  on  water,  without  spending  money  ? 
Can  you  live  at  this  day  without  spending 
\J  money?  AVould  you  go  back  to  the  days 
of  the  spinning  wheel,  and  saddle  and  pillion, 
,  because  you  could  live  cheap?  Why,  there 
is  not  a  man  among  us,  who  may  not  be, 
and  if  true  to  himself,  will  not  be,  older  at 
fifty,  than  Methuselah  was  at  nine  hundred 
and  fifty  years.  You  tell  me  I  lived  fast 
during  my  journey  to  California ;  truly  I  did. 
I  travelled  fast,    saw   fast,    made   friends    fast, 


IMPRESSIONS   TO    BE   LEFT.  313 

iinJ  lived  longer  iu  two  months  than  during 
any  other  period  of  two  years  of  my  life. 
We  are  all  living  at  the  same  rate.  It  would 
once  have  cost  me  live  years  to  obtain  the 
information  contained  in  these  pages.  The 
Church  is  living  centuries  in  a  generation, 
and  what  matters  it,  if  she  is  called  upon 
to  give  her   labors    and  money  in  proportion? 

I  want  my  generation,  and  I  want  the  gener- 
ation coming  after  me,  to  rise  up  in  views,  and 
in  heart,  in  proportion  to  their  opportunities 
and  responsibilities.  To  be  a  Christian  in  this 
country  now,  is  to  be  lifted  up  to  fly  with  the 
angel  that  hath  the  everlasting  Gospel  to  preach 
to  every  creature.  I  had  rather  live  with  my 
generation  now,  than  to  live  the  life  of  Methu- 
selah. 

O  my  country !  the  names  of  thy  great  sons 
will  hang  over  thee  like  so  many  bright  stars ; 
the  great  spirit  of  our  fathers  lives,  and  will 
live,  and  the  Sun  of  Ri£]:hteousness  himself  is 


314  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

rising  on  thee  with  warmer  and  warmer  beams. 
God's  great  plans  move  on,  and  the  roar  of  the 
ocean,  and  the  stern  silence  of  the  flinty  moun- 
tain, are  waiting  at  His  feet.  Those  plans,  like 
the  century  plant,  are  now  unfolding,  in  their 
beauty  and  in  their  richness.  We  have  bled 
for  thee,  O  my  country,  and  we  will  now  pray 
and  labor  for  thee,  and  we  will  raise  up  sons 
and  daughters  worthy  of  our  fathers,  and 
worthy  the  inheritance  which  they  have  left  us. 
Over  all  the  land  their  spirit  lives  ! 

"  The  Pilgrim  spirit  has  not  fled; 
It  walks  in  noon's  bright  light, 

And  it  watches  the  bed 

Of  our  glorious  dead, 
With  the  holy  stars  by  night  I 

And  it  watches  the  bed 

Of  the  brave  who  have  bled, 
And  shall  guard  this  wide- spread  shore, 

Till  the  waves  of  the  bay 

"Where  the  Mayflower  lay, 
Shall  foam  and  freeze  no  more !  '* 


APPENDIX, 


The  visitor  in  California  should  not  fail  of  going 
to  the  following  places :  — 

1.  Almadan  Mines. 

These  are  the  Quicksilver  Mines, .about  seventy 
or  seventy-five  miles  from  San  Francisco.  You  can 
go  in  the  morning  on  the  San  Jose  Railroad ;  but  it 
is  better  to  leave  in  the  afternoon,  go  to  San  Jose, 
and  stay  over  the  night,  enjoying  the  beautiful 
Santa  Clara  Valley,  through  which  you  pass.  Early 
in  the  morning  take  a  carriage,  and  go  to  the  mines, 
twelve  miles,  and  spend  the  day  there,  getting  back 
to  San  Jose  in  the  evening.  Go  up  to  and  into  the 
mines,  and  see  the  whole. 

2.  Vera  Cruz. 

Stop  at  Santa  Clara,  and  take  the  stage  over  the 
mountains  —  a  wild  and  beautiful  ride;  and  the  old 
city  is  so  Spanish,  that  it  will  pay  well  for  the  visit. 
Observe  the  Redwood  tree,  the  Madrona,  and  the 
beautiful  landscape  view  fi-ora  the  mountain.  You 
can,  if  you  choose,  return  in  a  steamer ;  but  I  would 
not,  unless  it  is  very  hot  and  dusty.  The  steamers 
are  too  small. 

(315) 


316  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

3.  The  Geysers. 
Take  the  afternoon  boat  to  Vallejo,  and  then  the 
cars  up  through  the  exquisite  Napa  Valley — beauti- 
ful beyond  description.  Stop,  and  spend  the  night 
at  Calistoga.  Make  all  your  arrangements  to  leave 
in  a  carriage  (open  wagon),  at  live  o'clock,  next 
morning.  Ride  twenty  miles  to  Foss's  to  breakfast ; 
and  such  an  appetite,  and  such  coffee !  It  pays  you 
for  the  ride.     Did  you  see  that  elder  bush  on  the  way 

—  a  tree  a  foot  in  diameter !  If  possible,  get  Foss 
to  drive  you  over  with  his  six-horse  team,  himself. 
James  is  next  best.  Watch  that  grand  mountain 
on  your  right,  all  the  way.  Enjoy,  without  fear, 
your  ride  of  two  miles  on  the  "Camel's  Back." 
Hold  your  breath  without  terror,  as  Foss  drives  you 
down  the  mountain,  nineteen  hundred  feet,  in  ten 
or  eleven  minutes,  and  then  look  round  on  the 
weird  place  where  you  find  yourself.  Get  a  guide 
when  you  visit  the  Geysers,  and  don't  tarry  among 
them  too  long,  and  be  sure  and  go  and  take  a  warm 
bath  on  your  return  from  them.  Stop  over  night 
at  the  hotel,  and  return,  if  you  choose,  through  the 
Russian  Valley,  and  by  a  longer,  but  not  a  pleas- 
anter  route,  to  San  Francisco.  Be  sure  and  not 
omit  this  visit. 

4.   Yo-Semite  Valley. 
Leave  the  city  at  four  o'clock,  P.  M.,  for  Stockton 

—  a  beautiful  sail,  as  long  as  you  are  on  deck. 
Arrive  at  Stockton  at  six  o'clock  next  morning. 
From  Stockton  there  are  two  routes  to  the  Valley. 


APPENDIX.  317 

As  I  wanted  to  see  the  Calaveras  big  trees,  I  took 
tlie  left  route  —  the  shortest  and  cheapest,  when  I 
was  there.  Now  stage  —  a  miserable  old  wreck  of 
a  wagon  —  to  Copperopolis  to  dinner,  and  thence 
to  "Murphy's  Cainj)"to  lodge  —  a  hard  day's  ride 
of"  sixty-five  miles.  Go  to  Sperry's,  where  your 
accommodations  are  good,  and  your  stay  made 
pleasant.  You  are  now  among  the  foot-hills,  and 
the  mines,  both  j)lacer  mines  and  quartz,  and  can 
examine  either  or  both.  Next  morning  take  stage 
over  the  mountain,  fifteen  miles,  to  the  Big-Tree 
Grrove  —  a  very  romantic  ride.  At  the  grove  you 
will  find  Mr.  Perry's  hotel  —  of  the  same  comforta- 
ble stamp  as  Sperry's.  Take  your  time  here.  The 
trees  will  have  to  grow  much  before  you  will  realize 
their  greatness  and  grandeur. 

Leave  in  the  morning,  and  return  to  "  Murphy's 
Camp,"  dine,  and  in  staijje ;  press  on  over  the  wild 
Stanislaus  River  and  fearful  mountain  gorges,  pass- 
ing Columbia  and  the  amnzing  relics  of  the  miners, 
lodge  at  Sonora.  In  the  morning,  on  through  the 
"  Chinese  Camp,"  over  the  mountain  and  the  Tuo- 
lumne River,  through  Garotta,  to  Harding's  Ranch. 
Stop  over  night.  Now  get  the  best  horse  you  can, 
and,  with  a  guide,  set  out  with  good  courage  for 
an  awfully  hard  day's  ride  in  the  saddle.  Through 
parks  of  Nature's  planting,  over  mountains,  and 
through  deep  banks  of  snow  (supposing  it  to  be 
about  the  first  of  .June,  which  is  the  best  time), 
you  at  last  come  to  the  spot  where  you  stop  on  the 
trail,  and  look  down  into  the  chasm  below,  three 


318  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

thousand  feet.  Such  a  vision  you  never  had  before ! 
Go  down  the  mountain  — getting  off  to  walk  is  best 
—  two  and  a  half  miles;  and  descending  three  thou- 
sand feet,  brings  you  into  the  Valley.  Don't  be  dis- 
couraged now,  but  make  your  way,  some  miles  yet, 
to  the  very  centre  of  the  Valley,  and  go  directly  to 
Hutchings' ;  put  yourself  under  his  care  and  direc- 
tion ;  let  him  furnish  you  guides  and  horses,  and 
mark  out  each  day's  work  for  you.  DonH  hurry^ 
now.  His  charges  are  reasonable;  and  if  you  are 
not  satisfied  with  the  treatment  at  his  house,  and 
what  you  see  in  the  Valley,  you  must  be  hard  to 
please.  Visit  all  the  falls  and  Mirror  Lake,  and 
climb  the  mountains,  if  you  have  strength.  Get  the 
geography  of  every  fall,  and  peak,  and  pinnacle  well 
fixed  in  your  mind.  Stop  days  here,  and  don't 
hurry  any  part  of  your  visit.  You  are  receiving 
impressions  that' are  to  be  a  life-long  source  of  joy. 
In  returning,  you  will  not  go  out  of  the  way  to  the 
Calaveras  Grove,  but  from  the  Chinese  Camp  direct 
to  Stockton.  You  can  get  a  ticket  for  the  whole 
route,  via  the  Grove,  at  Stockton ;  and  this  is  the 
best  way.  You  can  examine  the  Chinese  at  their 
camp,  where  you  will  stop  over  night  in  coming 
out. 

The  journey  to  and  from  the  Yo-Semite  is  a  hard 
one ;  but,  as  you  value  your  peace  of  mind  the  rest 
of  your  life^  donH  fail  to  make  it.  You  will  need 
7iot  less  than  a  fortnight  to  make  the  tour,  and  may 
reckon  the  expense  at  one  hundred  and  twenty 
dollars  in  gold. 


APPENDIX.  319 

When  you  get  back  to  San  Francisco,  and  get 
rested,  make  directly  for  ^^Watkins^s  Galleri/,^^  and 
see  his  niagnilicent  Views,  large,  and  most  beauti- 
fully executed,  of  the  Valley.  The  climate  in  Cali- 
fornia makes  the  best  photographs  in  the  world. 
These,  of  the  Yo-Semite  -Valley,  excel  anything  I 
ever  saw.  There  are  about  fifty  of  them,  and  I  urge 
you  to  buy  just  as  many  of  them  as  your  purse  will 
possibly  allow,  and  then  sigh  that  you  cannot  buy 
them  all.  You  will  bring  home  nothing  from  Cali- 
fornia so  beautiful  as  these  large  Photographs.  Mr. 
Watkins  spent  years  to  take  the  Views,  and  to 
admiration  has  he  succeeded. 

•Next  I  advise  you  to  go  to  "  J/r.  Houseworth! s^"^ 
to  get  some  Photographs  of  the  Big  Trees,  and  his 
"Stereoscopic  Views"  of  California.  The  former 
are  large;  the  latter,  the  usual  size;  and  of  the 
many  hundreds  of  Views  which  he  will  show  you,  I 
can't  recall  one  that  is  a  poor  one.  I  think  he  must 
have  towards  two  thousand  different  Views,  and 
they  become,  on  your  possessing  them,  a  source  of 
pure  and  lasting  enjoyment.  What  you  buy  of 
thes5  is  a  good  investment. 

5.  The  Gold  and  Silver  Mines. 

Visit  these,  —  the  Gold,  in  Grass  Valley,  near 
Nevada  City,  asking  advice  and  direction  of  Edwin 
F.  Bean,  Esq. ;  the  Silver  Mines,  at  Virginia  City, 
or  White  Pines.  If  you  stop  at  Nevada  City,  get 
"Bean's  History"  of  the  County.  You  will  want 
it  when,  you  get  home. 


320  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

6.  The  Seal  Lions. 

These  are  about  seven  miles  from  San  Francisco, 
over  a  beautiful  road.  Stop  at  the  Cliff  House,  and 
watch  the  lazy,  quarrelsome,  uncouth  monsters  at 
your  leisure. 

7.  Down  the  Coast. 

You  should  take  the  steamer,  and  go  down  to 
Santa  Barbara,  Los  Angeles,  &c.,  and  get  a  correct 
idea  and  picture  of  Lower  California.  It  will  take 
a  week  or  more. 

8.   The  Sandwich  Islands. 

When  at  San  Francisco,  you  are  only  fourteen 
days  from  the  Sandwich  Islands  by  steamer;  and 
if  you  can  go,  you  will  enjoy  a  trip  there  exceed- 
ingly; where  you  will  find  two  races  mingling, 
an  old  religion  and  system  of  things  vanishing 
away,  and  a  new  one  taking  their  place ;  and  where 
scenery  unsurpassed,  and  in  some  respects,  never 
equalled,  will  abundantly  compensate  you  for  the 
voyage. 

9.   Hunting  and  Fishing. 

I  have  been  asked  repeatedly  about  these ;  and  I 
can  only  say,  that  the  grizzly  Bear  is  retiring,  and 
seldom  shows  himself  now;  that  the  Elk  has  for- 
saken the  valleys,  and  gone  north ;  that  the  Buffalo 
seems  never  to  have  crossed  the  mountains;  that 
the  Deer  are  still  plenty  in  the  mountains,  and  in  the 
little  wild  mountain  valleys;  that  the  Antelope  is 


APPENDIX.  321 

found  only  on  this  side  of  the  Nevadna,  as  also  the 
Snge-hen  (a  sj)ecics  of  the  grouse)  ;  that  the  Moun- 
tain-quail, -tlie  Mourning-dove,  and  the  large  Hare 
meet  you  everywhere ;  that  in  the  mountain  streams 
Trout  are  very  abundant,  but  the  meat  is  white,  soft, 
and  ver^  inferior  to  tlie  trout  on  the  Atlantic  coast; 
that  Foxes  and  Lynxes  are  very  plenty  in  some 
parts;  and  that,  on  the  whole,  it  is  a  region  abound- 
ing in  wild  game. 

You  will  hear  the  old  pioneers  describe  their 
encounters  with  Indians,  robbers,  and  grizzly  bears, 
in  days  gone  by,  with  a  warm  eulogium  upon  the 
Winchester  or  Improved  Henry  Rifle.  Indeed,  they 
place  it  above  all  other  weapons  of  defence;  and, 
rather  than  be  without  his  "  Winchester,"  the  pio- 
neer would  deny  himself  anything.  The  accounts 
of  the  power  and  safety  procured  by  this  arm  make 
you  cease  to  wonder  at  the  universal  admiration 
expressed  in  its  favor. 

This  Rifle,  as  now  perfected,  is,  as  all  who  have 
used  it  think,  the  very  best  gun  in  this  country,  and 
probably  unsurpassed  by  any  yet  made. 

In  crossing  the  continent  —  a  long  and  weary 
journey  —  don't  fail,  by  letter  or  by  telegraph,  to 
secure  a  place  in  one  of  "Pullman's  sleeping  cars" — 
a  palace  on  wheels.  Nothing  can  exceed  them, 
unless  Pullman  should  excel  himself.  He  has  a 
capital  of  a  million  in  this  manufacture — has  already 
one  hundred  and  twenty  of  those  "sleeping  cars" 
running,  seven  "  dining  cara,"  and  eight  "  hotel  cars." 

21 


322  THE    SUNSET   LAND. 

He  will  soon  have  these  cars  running,  so  that  you 
can  take  the  number  of  your  berth  in  New  York, 
and  keep  it  till- you  reach  San  Francisco.  I  could 
wish  we  had  his  cars  on  every  railroad  in  the  land. 
They  are  flir,  far  superior  to  anything  of  the  kind 
ever  invented.  He  is  a  public  benefactor,  notwith- 
standing he  makes  it  profitable  for  himself.  Pitts- 
field  furnishes  a  part  —  and,  in  cold  weather,  no 
small  part  —  of  the  comforts  of  the  "  Pullman  car." 


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